Down among the Dead Men
by vespertine dreams
Summary: Becker and Matt return after four months stranded through an anomaly to find the world overrun by the Walking Dead. Slash- Becker/Matt, Connor/Lester. Warnings for violence, horror- full list inside.
1. Chapter 1

Warnings: Story contains- violence, death, mild horror, sex (male/male) and bad language. If any of this is likely to offend you, it's your choice as to whether or not you read on.

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><p><span>Down among the dead men<span>

Chapter 1

The anomaly re-opening was cause for celebration; the team had been trapped for four months. Four months, twelve days and fifteen and a half hours, give or take a few minutes. Becker had been working it out only that morning. They had survived on what little they had with them and on what they could catch, but at least there was nothing trying to catch them. There were few predators, and the ones they'd seen seemed to work out pretty fast that they were lower on the food chain than humans with weapons.

"Let's move, people!" Becker called out. "We don't know how long it'll stay open for."

There was a scramble to collect everything up so as not to leave anything behind that could corrupt the timelines, quickly stuffing it all into backpacks.

"First thing I'm doing when we get back is having a shower," Luke said as he followed Dev through the anomaly. "Then, a cup of tea and a bacon butty with brown sauce on. I've been dreaming about bacon butties."

Becker nodded. After four months of eating seeds and campfire-cooked reptile and rodent, a decent meal would be heaven. So would a hot shower, he thought. And fresh clothes.

Matt flashed a suggestive smile at Becker. "I'm just looking forward to a comfy bed. Just think, no more twigs poking you in inappropriate places."

"That will be a relief," Becker agreed. "Your place or mine?"

"Yours. The bed's bigger," Matt said. "Come on; let's go home."

x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x

"I don't get it," Matt said. "There should be a whole team waiting for us. The detector must have gone off so where are they?"

"I don't know, but I'd like to get back to the ARC as soon as possible," Becker said.

He took his phone out of his pocket and switched it on. He had kept it turned off for the past four months, preserving the battery until they got back, just in case, and now he was glad that he had. Unfortunately, all he got was dead line. Becker redialled, again getting nothing. The ARC's emergency line was manned twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, yet there was no one answering.

"Okay, something's wrong," he said, putting the phone away again, glancing around at the others. "We need transport."

Maybe there was a vehicle they could borrow at the farm, he thought, leading them across the field. When they got closer, however, Becker paused.

Something wasn't right there, either.

He pulled the pistol out of his backpack and checked the ammunition clip. Four rounds left. It would have to do. Beside him, Dev and Luke did the same, Matt's gun already in his hand even though there was nothing to arm themselves against. The feel of the weapon in Becker's hands made him feel better, made the eerie silence that little bit less threatening. He would have felt even better if he'd had more ammunition, the rest having been used to hunt for food over the past four months after the batteries in the EMD's went flat, but at least it was something.

"What the hell happened?" Luke asked, his voice almost a whisper.

Matt looked around. This was definitely their time, the same place they had left all those months earlier, except that the farm now appeared to be abandoned, the door rattling in the wind and the curtains flapping at open windows. A few chickens pecked and scratched around in the yard, unconcerned, horses were still in their paddock though their hay had long since run out, the grass eaten away almost completely down to bare earth.

The large barn at the end of the yard had been blockaded with all of the farm vehicles, from tractors to pick-up trucks, backed against the doors. The low windows had been barricaded shut with planks nailed securely over them. Someone had written across the door in red spray paint, _Do not open. Dead inside_.

"Becks, I think we should leave," Matt said, still eyeing the door. "Now. I really have a bad feeling about this place."

Becker nodded. "You're right, and we will. We should check and make sure there's no one still here first. We don't know what happened; they could need help."

There were times when Matt cursed Becker for his do-the-right-thing attitude, and this was one of them. Still, there was no way he was letting Becker go wandering about alone.

They were approaching the orchard at the back of the farmhouse, leaving Luke and Dev to try and get them some transportation when they heard the screech of tyres and an old Land Rover came sliding to a halt before them on the dirt road. The back door was pushed open as Dev leaned out of the open window.

"Get in the car!"

Becker frowned at Dev, about to protest, but before he could speak Dev cut him off.

"Just get in the fucking car NOW! We have to go."

But Becker and Matt were looking at something behind the Land Rover, near to the barn. A man, stumbling slightly as he walked, heading right for them. Becker started toward him, calling to him, asking if he was alright but Matt grabbed the back of his jacket.

"Maybe should do as Dev says," he said quietly. "Please, Becks."

It was the please that did it and Becker stopped. As they got into the car, the man got closer and Becker caught a good look at him.

"He's hurt…"

Dev put the Land Rover in reverse and floored the accelerator, heading straight for the man, ignoring Becker's shouts for him to stop. They missed the man by inches but as they went past, Becker saw his face close up.

His face was sunken, like a starving man, his cheekbones prominent and his eyes dark-circled. All around his mouth and down the front of his torn, grubby shirt was dark and stained with red. When he opened his mouth, his lips and teeth had the same read staining, only brighter, fresher. He reached out with grubby hands as they passed him, a strange groaning sound coming from him.

"Was that… blood?" Matt asked in horror.

Dev nodded. "He was in the barn. The floor was littered with feathers and blood; I think it was a chicken at one point. When we took the Land Rover, he came out, went for us. I gave him a shot with the EMD but when I looked back minutes later he was up and coming at us again."

They all heaved a sigh of relief as they pulled out of the farm grounds and onto the road.

"I hate leaving him like that," Becker said, looking back.

"When we get back we can send help," Matt said.

In the meantime, they had to get back to the ARC. The uneasy feeling still hadn't left him and he wanted to get back as soon as possible. It was only about an hour's drive back to the ARC but that wasn't taking into account the amount of detours they were having to take. They had only gone a few miles when they found the road blocked by an accident. Three cars and a van littered the road with various degrees of damage to them. The van and one of the cars had been burned out completely, another of the cars upside down, balanced on its roof.

Dev pulled the Land Rover in to the side of the road and got out, the others following. He cautiously put a hand on the van's side panel.

"Cold. This has been here for days at least." He walked around the side of the van, and stopped in his tracks. "Oh God…"

The others were at his side in seconds, weapons in hand again, but there was nothing to shoot. Whatever had happened, it had happened a while ago. The woman was youngish, from what was left, with blonde hair now matted and stiff with dried blood. But that wasn't the part that had Becker trying to force down the instinct to run for the bushes and puke. His only consolation was that the other three looked just as green.

"It looks like she's been ripped apart by some kind of animal," Matt said, a hand over his nose as he leaned closer to look. Suddenly he stood back upright and took a couple of steps back. "Those aren't animal teeth-marks."

"And she wasn't just torn apart," Dev observed from the other side of the body. "There's quite a lot missing."

Matt turned and headed back to the Land Rover. "I don't think I want to know."

This time, when Luke suggested that they leave, no one objected, getting into the Land Rover in silence. Becker glanced across at Matt, sitting beside him in the back seats and looking more shaken than Becker had ever seen him, and reached out a hand to grasp his hand.

They took the side roads, keeping away from the main roads in the hope of avoiding any more blocks after having to go around two more abandoned, broken down cars. So far they hadn't seen another moving vehicle or person, the surrounding countryside silent and still.

"We have a problem," Dev pointed out about thirty minutes later. "We need petrol, and soon."

Becker leaned up over the front seat and looked at the fuel gauge.

"We're only about twenty miles from the ARC but we won't make it on what's left," he said. "Head into town; we can fill up there."

"Have you forgotten that we're also driving a stolen car?"

Becker hadn't, but he was eager to get back to the ARC. If they ran into problems, he'd think of something.

"Well, we need fuel. Besides, there's something really wrong here," Matt pointed out. "I think a stolen car is the least of our worries."

Becker agreed and Dev drove them into town. The outlying streets were deserted for the first few minutes, but then a woman wandered into sight. She was at the far end of the road, but even from here they could see that she had the same shuffling, stumbling gait as the man at the farm. Slowing, Dev continued toward her with the intention of going straight past but then others appeared. More people began to move toward them and as they got closer they saw their faces, saw the ragged, blood-stained clothes. Some were in street clothes, others in hospital gowns and nightclothes.

"Turn around," Becker told him. "Before they block us in."

Behind them, one or two people began to shuffle toward them out of gardens and alleyways. One man's face was a mess of rotted flesh, jaw and teeth half-exposed as he moved with surprising speed and made a grab for the Land Rover. Blood encrusted fists banged at the window, his moans and growls becoming louder, attracting the others. Within moments the Land Rover was surrounded, hands pounding on the sides.

"If the doors aren't locked, now would be a good time to do it," Dev pointed out, flinching as the window on the passenger side shattered, showering Luke with glass.

Hands reached in, grabbing for him as Luke ducked back out of reach.

"Get this bloody thing moving!" he snapped, aiming his gun into the crowd and firing. The bullet hit the woman in the chest and she staggered back, falling to the ground but not for long. It was only a few seconds before she was stumbling back to her feet. He fired again, selecting targets carefully, mindful that he was almost out of ammunition.

Taking advantage of this, Dev put the Land Rover into reverse, going straight through their attackers. Becker turned away from the window, unable to watch as the people, and they were still people no matter what it looked like, were struck by the vehicle and run down. The crowd chased them, gaining in numbers until the ones at the back seemed to decide that it was too much trouble and gave up. Once they had, the others slowed too.

"Okay, no more towns," Dev announced. He made a tyre-screeching u-turn, taking them quickly away from the chaos. "What now? We still need fuel."

Becker had a quick rummage about in the assorted junk in the back of the Land Rover and came up with a dirty piece of tubing and a jerry-can.

"Take us back to those last abandoned cars," he said. "We can siphon off whatever they've got left."

"And what if someone else thought of that before us?"

"Who? I haven't seen anyone else who doesn't look like…" Becker paused. "Like them."

They all thought about that for a moment, about the implications of that statement as they went back to the last cars they had passed.

"What if there is no one left?" Dev asked as they got out and carefully checked the area to make sure that they were alone. "The others at the ARC might be just like them, whatever they are. We could just be walking back into the lion's den, going back there."

Matt glared at Dev. "Even so, we've got to find out."

Leaving him to keep watch with Luke, Matt went to crouch beside Becker. The other man had the filler cap open and was feeding the tube into the petrol tank. Sucking hard on the other end of the tube, he put it into the jerry-can when the petrol began to come through, coughing and spitting the taste from his mouth.

"I'm just going to have a look around," he told Matt. "I won't be a minute."

Matt frowned, watching as he hurried away to one of the other cars. Moments later, he reappeared, went to the Land Rover and dug around in the back.

"What are you doing?"

Becker held up a long screwdriver. "Getting this," he replied before going back to the car. Matt took the hose out of the petrol tank and went to pour what they'd collected into the Land Rover before following Becker. The other man had popped the door open on the car and a shotgun was laid on the bonnet. Becker was looking through the glove compartments and the assorted rubbish in the foot wells.

"It was in the car," he explained when he got out again a few moments later. "I thought that since the guns are almost empty it might be useful. No shells, though."

They went back to the Land Rover, taking the back roads once more as they made for the ARC. Becker wasn't sure if he actually wanted to get there or not, almost dreading what they might find. What if there was no one else? They could be the only four people unaffected by whatever had happened.

Forty-five minutes later, they reached the outskirts of the city. They would have to go in as there was no other way to reach the ARC, but they wouldn't make it in a car. The noise from the engine seemed to attract the people, and they couldn't let themselves get surrounded again. Next time, they might not be able to get away so easily.

"We should go on foot from here," Becker suggested. "As long as we keep out of their way, we should be able to get past."

Loading up with whatever they could find as weapons, the four of them began to walk. There were a few people about, wandering, not paying them much attention as they hurried by as quietly as they could. They kept close to the buildings, hoping not to be noticed, and it worked for a while. Then, one man turned and looked right at them. His head cocked to the side, his pace hastening as he made for them, his increasing groans drawing the others in too. Turning, they set off back into the alley but their way was blocked by a man sitting, leaning, against one of the large metal bins. As they approached, he stumbled to his feet, the rat he had been eating still in his hand, blood-smeared mouth opening in a snarl.

"Not that way," Dev told them, putting out a hand to stop Luke. "This is ridiculous! They're everywhere."

"It's just two more streets," Matt said; he could see the top of the ARC building from here but they wouldn't last for two more streets without being caught, not now. He glanced around, looking for options, and smiled. "Becks; look up."

Becker did, frowning for a moment before he nodded. "Dev, Luke- this way."

x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x

The fire escape took them to the roof of the building, away from the chaos in the street below. From there it was only a matter of crossing the gaps between buildings, a short run that they could make before any of the afflicted people noticed they were there, and then climbing up the next fire escape. The people didn't seem inclined to even try and follow them up the steps, meaning that it was fairly safe.

"Well, there it is," Becker said, looking at the familiar structure that was so close yet so far away.

None of the neighbouring buildings shared roof access, and even if they could get to the roof, the fire doors couldn't be opened from the outside. They would have to get to the doors and that meant a stretch of open ground - the street and the car park - and more chance of being caught. Matt went to the opposite end of the roof, Becker followed and looked over the edge. It seemed that most of the people down below hadn't followed, losing them when they traversed the rooftops. There was a slight commotion among those in the street as a cat emerged from a broken window and tried to make a run for it across the street. Before the grubby, scruffy animal made it to the opposite building, one of the people grabbed it by the tail. The cat let out a screeching yowl and Matt looked away. The poor thing was alive when they started tearing it apart, fighting over it. He could hear its cries for another few seconds before it fell silent, leaving only the frenzied growls and groans of the people as they feasted on the raw flesh. Of all the things he'd seen so far, that sight had his hands shaking. He felt one of Becker's hands cover his, the other man looking as shaken as he felt and he knew that they were both thinking the same thing: if they got caught, was that what would happen to them?

"We don't tell the others about this," he said. "Not until we've got to safety."

Becker nodded, giving Matt's hand one last squeeze before forcing a blank expression and turning back to the others.

"It's as clear as it's going to get," he told them. "The ARC is on a separate power source so the door codes should still work, so should these." He held up his arm, the biometric security tag still around his wrist. "Ready?"

"As I'll ever be," Dev grumbled, but he followed as Matt and Becker began to climb down the fire escape ladder.

They moved as quietly and quickly as they could but once they reached open ground that was no longer possible.

The first people noticed them halfway across the car park, moving with surprising speed, jaws snapping hungrily. More and more began to join them, emerging from back alleys and buildings to join the fray.

"Keep up," Becker shouted to Luke and Dev, bringing up the rear. "Matt, get that bloody door open!"

"I'm trying!" Matt shouted back, swiping his wrist over the electronic lock again. "It's not working!" He glanced back, saw the hoard almost on their heels. This was it; there was nowhere left to run to.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x

The first hand reached for them as Matt typed the code into the keypad next to the door. Then the others were on them, grabbing at them even as Dev, Luke and Becker fended them off with their makeshift weapons. It didn't seem to make any difference.

"Aim for their heads!" a voice called from a window up above them, as a quick succession of gunshots rang out. The people nearest to them dropped to the ground, unmoving.

Becker looked around as the door behind them suddenly opened and a man came out. He had a pistol in his hands and a deadly aim, firing into the crowd even as other shots from above took out more of their attackers.

"We can't hold them back for long. Get inside."

The four hurried through the door, their saviour following, and only then did they get a good look at him.

"Lester?"

"Becker. Finally decided to join us I see."

Lester looked them over quickly as Abby secured the door behind them, the weapon still in his hand.

"Are you all alright?"

Glancing around at the other three, Becker saw them all nod their heads. He watched as Lester checked the clip in the pistol and refilled it from a storage box near the door before slamming it back into place. His usually suit-clad boss was dressed in the black combat trousers and boots that he and his men wore, only Lester still had his blue and white striped shirt on. Becker half expected to see a tie as well.

"Come on, the others will be waiting for you," Lester said, leading them toward the stairs. "Connor saw you across the street but before he could get word to you, to find you a clear path, you had already left the rooftop."

Becker felt a wave of relief. "Connor's here too? He's okay?"

"He was one of those covering you from upstairs," Lester told them, leading them all up to the second level offices.

The moment they walked through the door, a whirlwind dressed in yellow and orange leapt first on Matt, then on Becker. Becker picked Jess up, hugged her, and set her down on her feet again, as Abby came in behind them. Mark Andrews, Becker's second in command, came hurrying into the room with Connor, rifles on leather straps over their shoulders.

"We saw the anomaly on the detector but we had no way to warn you," Jess said, still beaming as she hugged Luke and Dev as well. "I am so glad to see you all!"

Becker greeted Connor and Mark in much the same way before Connor made his way to Lester's side. "Likewise," he said. "We weren't sure what we'd find when we got back here." He looked around at the small group of people gathered in the office. "Is this everyone who's left?"

"This is all of us," Connor told him. "At least, all of us who managed to make it back to the ARC. When the virus struck and things started getting crazy outside, we thought that the ARC would be the safest place and so we gathered here."

"Just five people?" Dev asked in disbelief.

"There were six of us," Lester said quietly. "Philip Burton."

"What happened to him?"

"He panicked," Connor told them. "He tried to run, to leave the safety of the ARC, but they caught him."

"We saw a cat in the street," Becker began with a glance toward Matt. "They got hold of it, tore it apart while it was still alive." He hadn't liked Philip but he wouldn't wish that on his worst enemy. "Tell me that didn't happen to him."

Connor shook his head. "It didn't," he said. He didn't volunteer any more explanation, just turned and left the room.

"Have you had contact with anyone outside the ARC?" Dev asked.

Abby smiled. "There is a group of thirty-five people holed up in Thames House and there are rumours of other survivors but it's hard to reach them. The only reason we can get hold of Thames House is because we've both got the emergency communications systems. We don't know how many people are still out there," she said. "The last thing we heard before the news channels stopped broadcasting was that the whole of the UK had been infected. There were outbreaks reported all over Europe and America."

Leaving Abby and Lester to tell them, Becker and Matt followed Connor. The found him sitting on the roof, leaned against one of the ventilation ducts with the rifle propped up beside him.

"Connor?" Becker sat down, Matt next to him. "Mind if we join you?"

Connor just shrugged his shoulders. "Sorry I left."

For a while, they sat in silence, just looking out over the edge of the roof, at the buildings on the skyline. When you couldn't see the street below, couldn't see the people, it was almost possible to believe that nothing had changed. Except that there were less birds flying about, none of the usual traffic noise. Even the air smelled different from the lack of exhaust fumes. Now there was a trace of something else, the sickly scent of rotting meat that the breeze brought up here caught every so often.

"I shot him," Connor said eventually. "Philip. I saw them catch him. We tried to stop him leaving but he wouldn't listen. I couldn't let him turn into one of them, or watch him get ripped apart, so I put a bullet through his head." He looked up at them then. "I've never killed anyone before. The Dead, that's different. That's survival. Philip was alive; I killed him."

"You did what you had to," Matt assured him.

"That's what James told me too," Connor said.

"What did you mean, couldn't let him turn into one of them?" Becker asked, frowning.

Connor looked confused for a moment. "That's how it transmits- Oh, you don't know, do you? It spreads through blood or saliva, if they bite or scratch you. It was a virus; some people thought it was being developed for research in a lab in London and it got released, evolving as it infected anyone who came into contact with it. It spread so fast that there was nothing anyone could do to stop it."

"But surely if it was developed in a lab, then there should have been an antidote or a vaccine?"

"We don't know. If there was an antidote, even if it did start in the lab, then no one had time to use it."

"But those people back there weren't just infected," Matt pointed out.

"No," Connor continued. "It starts with a fever which kills the person first and then it, for want of a better word, reanimates them."

Becker wasn't sure if it was worse now that he knew. He couldn't help thinking about people he'd known, his friends and family, people he'd served with in the military. What had happened to all of them? Were they mindless, flesh-eating dead things now? Had any of them survived?

x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x

That night Becker got into the makeshift bed in what had once been Lester's office. The others had already turned in, leaving a couple of people on guard even though Lester assured them that the Dead weren't able to get into the ARC. Any pretence they'd had about their relationship, professionalism in the workplace and all that, was now abandoned as he got into bed beside Matt, wanting something normal and familiar to hold onto at the moment.

"Doesn't seem real, does it?" Matt asked. "We leave and it's all normal and the next time we step through the anomaly, everything's gone to hell."

"I'm still waiting to wake up," Becker agreed. "I still can't really believe it."

"You know, it wasn't supposed to be like this," Matt told him. "This didn't happen before but something changed. The future's changed."

"What do you mean?"

"Doesn't matter," Matt told him. "I don't want to think about it any more; I just want to forget about it all for a while. Make love to me, Becks."

Becker glanced up at the wall of glass around the office, aware that they were on display for anyone who walked past, but then Matt was kissing the side of his neck and it didn't matter so much. Not that anyone would care; they had more to worry about than what he and Matt were up to.

They took their time, letting the warmth and love between them chase away the demons that the day had brought. At last they were sated, lying together in that silent office as the world fell apart around them. Becker pressed a kiss to Matt's forehead as the other man settled beside him, falling asleep. Closing his eyes, Becker tried to do the same. If tomorrow was anything like today had been, they would need to be rested for it.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x

The following day, Becker checked through the armoury, taking an inventory. There were still racks of EMD's but as they didn't have much of an effect on the Dead, they had been ignored. They were useful for slowing the Dead down but only for a very short time, Connor told them. What had been used were the live-ammunition weapons- pistols, rifles, shotguns.

"We have been using them sparingly," Lester told him. "But eventually, we're going to run out of ammunition. Every time we have to leave the ARC, we have to use more."

"We have no choice. Every few days we have to make a food run," Mark added. "And then there are times we need to rescue idiots who get themselves trapped outside…"

Becker smiled. "Something that we can't thank you enough for."

"The point is that sooner or later we are going to be left defenceless," Mark continued. "At the moment, we have weapons, power, water, but what happens when those things run out? We need some kind of a contingency plan."

Lester nodded. "Actually, Connor and I were discussing this last night," he said. "And he made a suggestion. What if we went through one of the anomalies? There are still some open, albeit locked, that we know lead to hospitable environments."

"But it's not just the environment, is it?" Mark pointed out. "There are numerous hazards- creatures, poisonous vegetation. We would have to start from scratch- we wouldn't even have shelter or defences."

"Believe me, I made much the same argument," Lester said. "But, as Connor pointed out, Helen Cutter managed it for eight years."

Becker could see Connor's logic in the idea; after all, they had lasted four months through the anomaly, surviving quite well. The thing that worried him was the amount of people. Four of them had survived, as had Helen on her own, but there were people here who weren't used to travelling through the anomalies.

It also brought forth one more concern.

"What happens if one of the Dead wander through one before we get there?"

Lester shook his head. "I don't know. It might not have any effect on that world at all as animals don't seem to be infected by the virus. I shall have to ask Connor," he joked. "He does seem to be the expert on the Living Dead from all of those horror movies he loved so much."

They left the armoury, walking back toward the others. Mark veered off to go and see Abby who was currently checking on the menagerie leaving just the two of them.

"How is Connor?" Becker asked. "He told us about Philip, what he'd done. He was really shaken up about it."

"Why don't you ask Connor?"

Becker smiled. "I already have, and I'm still worried about him. Forgive me for saying, Lester, but you seem to be spending a lot of time with him. I thought you might know."

For a moment, he didn't think Lester would answer, the other man walking along in silence. Then, he stopped.

"He saw them take Philip, heard his screams as they attacked him, and he did what needed to be done," Lester said. "He stays with me most nights and so I see how many nightmares he has about it. He is getting better; he's sleeping more now."

"Sometimes it just needs someone there to chase away the nightmare."

"A round about way of asking what you really want to know, Becker?" Lester teased. "I care about him, always did, but there was always the issue of my being his superior to contend with. Now, well, that no longer matters."

Becker smiled. "I wasn't asking in order to judge you. I'm just glad that he has someone, and you too. I'm not sure how I would have avoided going crazy stuck though that anomaly if I hadn't had Matt to lean on every once in a while," he said, before adding, "although don't tell him I said that."

Lester laughed. "Your secret is safe with me."

x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x

That evening, when they were all together, Mark broached the subject of leaving the ARC. Following their conversation earlier, Becker had already discussed it with Matt and he knew that Mark and Lester had spoken to Jess and Abby. He knew that some of them were scared of venturing outside, those who hadn't been out on food runs and such, but what he hadn't counted on was Abby's reaction.

"No way. We can't leave." She looked around at the others in disbelief. "If we go, the creatures in the menagerie won't survive. They'll die of starvation if we aren't here to feed them, and if the Dead get in here they'll kill them."

"Abby, we can't stay here for much longer," Lester pointed out. "I understand how attached you are to those animals, but the truth is that supplies are running out here."

"So we collect more," she said. "I'll start going out to look for them too."

Lester shook his head. "That isn't what I meant. If we are going to make a move, we need to go before what we do have in terms of fuel, weapons and food are gone. We stand a better chance if we have sufficient supplies."

"I won't just leave them here to die."

Seeing that he wasn't going to get anywhere with Abby, Lester turned to the others.

"Jess? What are your thoughts?"

"I don't know… what about everyone else who's left? The ones in Thames House," she said. "There could be others too, others we haven't managed to contact yet. And what if Danny comes back? He'll be here all alone."

She was right, Becker thought as he listened to her. They would just be leaving behind everyone who was left. Maybe there was something they could do about that, though.

"What kind of transmitting equipment do we have here?" he asked. "We could relay this location, tell anyone still alive to come here. From what I've seen so far, the Dead can't understand what we tell them so we could just broadcast it and only the survivors would come."

Connor was nodding even before he finished speaking. "There's an emergency broadcasting system in Thames House so if we can get hold of them they can do it, and we have some pretty good gear here too. It might need a few tweaks to make it work…"

"Jess, could you help him?"

The young woman nodded, looking relieved to have something that she could help with at last, and the pair began to discus how best to do what they wanted to.

"So, we need to find an anomaly that's still open but locked, where the environment on the other side is something we can survive in," Mark said.

Dev looked around at the others. "What about the one near the farmhouse? We were there for months without too many run-ins with the local wildlife."

"If it is still open, however, it isn't locked. Some of the Dead could have wandered through."

"Excuse me!" Abby folded her arms across her chest, glaring at them. "Were you not listening before? I won't just leave these creatures behind as Zombie food!"

Connor and Jess stopped talking. "Could you please not call them that?" he said, looking uncomfortable. "Not the Z word."

"Abby, we're just talking about it," Lester pointed out. "We haven't decided anything for definite, but we need to at least look at the options." He looked to Jess and Connor. "You two, keep working on a broadcasting system. If nothing else, it would be useful for contacting other survivors. Evacuation through an anomaly is a final resort and if anyone has any other ideas then we can discuss them."

x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x

The food run was less eventful than Becker had imagined. He and Matt went along with Mark and Lester on the once-familiar route, only now it was like running a gauntlet, avoiding being seen or caught. They could take a vehicle, but the Dead were attracted to the sound of an engine and so they went on foot. They were all armed, even Lester, though from what Becker had seen so far, Lester could more than adequately handle the gun. Mark and Lester had done this numerous times, making the trip to the supermarket on the outskirts of town. They had already cleared the building of dead staff members and those walkers who had found their way inside, before sealing off the entrances, all except one. This one had a staff exit and Mark had stolen the key from the office the first time they had come and so, once inside with the door locked again, they could relax.

"Load up with whatever you can carry," Lester instructed, taking the black hold-all from his shoulder and starting to stack tins of food inside. "Don't make it too heavy, just in case we have to move fast."

Matt and Becker nodded, both taking out torches and making their way through the dark shop to another aisle and loading up their bags. Ten minutes later they locked the door behind them and headed back outside. Guns at the ready, they moved silently between the abandoned cars in the car park, avoiding anything that showed signs of movement, and escaped back into the side streets. The streets were quieter, offering more places to hide should they need it, but they didn't. Mark and Lester had made this trip enough times that they knew where most of the Dead seemed to gather, drifting toward certain areas though Becker was sure they didn't know why. They reached the ARC a short time later, going in through a back door that Connor and Dev had been keeping watch over to make sure that their path was clear.

"I wish we'd thought of that door when we got here," Matt said, thinking of their foolish attempts to get into the front of the building, with a hoard of Dead things closing in.

Becker put his bag down next to the others as Jess began going through them curiously. Her face lit up as she looked in Matt's bag and she pulled out three huge bars of chocolate.

"I could kiss you!" she said, giving him a hug. "Those two won't ever bring treats back; they say it's a waste."

Matt laughed as she clutched the chocolate tight to her chest. "You do know you have to share those, don't you?"

"Aww, can't I just keep one?" she begged.

"No," Matt told her. "But you can have this instead." He held out a bar of her favourite white chocolate truffle.

Lester watched as she hugged Matt again, planting a kiss on his cheek. "Don't expect that every time," he told her. As she hurried off with her prize, he smiled. "Not exactly what we went for, but it's nice to see her smiling. I think Jess has been more scared than the rest of us. After all, we're used to the unusual and unexpected, but she isn't."

The unloaded the food into the staff room's kitchen area, the room they had been using for their meals each day. Lester had them all eating meals together at set times, in the hope that it would bring a little normality to the situation. He and Becker were just opening the first cans when Abby came rushing in, her eyes wide with fear.

"What's wrong?" Becker demanded, dropping what he was doing. The look on her face scared him; she looked as though she had seen a ghost.

"It's Luke," she said, her voice quaking slightly. "I think you ought to come with me."

-To be continued…


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

In the office, Luke lay in his makeshift bed. He was doubled over, his arms wrapped around his stomach, whimpering as a pain raced through is body. His clothes were damp, his skin glistening with a sheen of sweat, face flushed from fever.

"Luke?" Becker crouched beside him, laying a hand on his forehead. He was burning up, yet the others just stood there by the door, not helping him. "Can someone get me a cold towel or something to try and cool him down? Do we have any medical supplies?" When no one but Matt and Dev made a move he glared around at them. "What is wrong with you all?"

Both Abby and Jess had tears in their eyes as they backed out of the room, Mark taking them elsewhere. Connor merely stood in the corner, silent, watching, leaving it to Lester to break it to them.

"We can't help him," Lester said, crouching next to Becker. "This is how it starts, with the fever, the stomach cramps. He must have been infected by one of them."

Becker was shaking his head. "No, he wasn't."

Lester touched Luke's shoulder to get his attention and the other man looked up at him.

"Luke, at any time, did one of the Dead bite you or scratch you?"

Luke began to shake his head, but then stopped. "In the car, before we got here," he said, breaking off as another pain shot through him, making him swear. "It was just a little scratch; it wasn't anything to worry about."

"I'm sorry, but that's all it takes. It may be why it hasn't affected you as quickly as others, but you are infected."

Lester stood, pulling Becker to his feet as well and leading him from the room.

"There is nothing we can do for him," he said. "It takes approximately 36 hours from the onset of the fever to him becoming one of them."

"So, what? You intend to just leave him?" Becker wanted to know. "There must be something we can do."

"You can put a bullet through his head before he turns," Lester told him. "Or you can let him loose with the others, let him become one of the Walking Dead. As heartless as it sounds, there are no other options."

"No."

They all looked back into the room, Becker rushing in as he saw Luke trying to sit upright. He looked dreadful, swaying as he tried to balance. Matt was there too, helping him to lean against the wall.

"What did you say?"

Luke began to shiver and Becker draped a blanket over him. "Don't let me turn into one of those things." He reached out and gripped Becker's hand with his own cold, clammy one. "Please; you have to do this for me. A shot to the head, just one. I don't want to become one of them."

Becker just stared at him. "I can't," he said, barely above a whisper.

Lester nodded to Matt, moving to sit with Luke as Matt led Becker out and back to their room.

"I don't think I can do it," Becker said.

Matt sat him down in the chair, perching before him on the edge of the desk.

"It's what he wants. You'd be giving him peace," he said. "Look, we don't need to talk about this until tomorrow at least."

x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x

But then tomorrow came and Luke's condition worsened. By now he was barely conscious, coughing fits racking his body, his eyes bloodshot as he opened them to look at Becker. It was only a matter of hours now before he stopped being the Luke they all knew and became one of the Dead.

"Hurts."

Becker looked down at the pistol on the ground beside where he sat. He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up so see Matt. The others had all said their goodbyes and left the room, most of them in tears or close to it.

"I'll do it, if you want."

Becker shook his head and picked up the gun and screwed on a silencer. "No, he asked me and I won't let him down."

They sat with him until he slipped into unconsciousness, seeing the rise and fall of his chest stop. Matt leaned over and pressed two fingers to the pulse point on his neck.

"He's gone. Do you want me to leave?"

Becker shook his head, and picked up the pistol.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Downstairs in the detector room, the others sat together, trying not listen. It was expected - they had been waiting for it ever since they left the room after saying goodbye to him - but the muffled shot that sounded still made them jump. Connor edged closer to Lester, the older man putting an arm around him as they sat in silence.

Soon, they would have to go and bury the body.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x

"Lester! We've got them back," Jess shouted, beckoning him over. "Thames House, they're still there."

Lester looked at the flickering image on the monitor and saw the anxious faces staring back. Jess tweaked a few settings and the picture became clearer.

"Good to see you again," he said.

The woman on the other end of the video feed smiled. "You too, James. Now, I assume that you didn't spend all this time repairing the link again just for a chat."

"Quite right, Leila. Tell me, is your broadcasting equipment still working?"

Leaving Lester to talk, Connor went off to find Becker. He hadn't seen the former soldier since he, Dev and Matt had come in from burying Luke. Asking around, he was directed toward the roof and when he got there he found Becker standing at the edge, watching the people below. As he got closer, he saw Matt toss something over the edge and then both men ducked behind the wall as a dull explosion rang out. When the noise stopped, seconds later, they both got to their feet, leaning out to look at the result.

"What are you doing?"

Matt smiled, glancing back to Connor. "A little experiment," he said. "Also, stress relief."

Connor went to see what they were looking at and saw that down below was now still and silent. The Dead were no longer walking about, instead they were on the ground. He would have said unconscious but did that apply to the walking dead? Whatever it was, they were still and out for the count.

"Stun grenade," Matt told him. "We were curious about much of an effect it would have."

"We use the EMD's but they never knock them out for long," Connor pointed out. "Never tried the stun grenades, though."

They all leaned out, watching, until the first of the Dead began to stir, and then Becker checked his watch. "Six and a half minutes from detonation. Not bad. Not great, either, but it would buy us some time if we needed it."

They sat down, leaning against the low wall that ran around the edge of the roof.

"So, what brings you up here?" Matt asked.

"I came to find you," Connor said. "You both vanished after… you know. I wanted to come and see how you were."

Becker gave him a small smile of appreciation. "Thanks, Connor, but I really don't want to think about it. Tell me, have you and Jess managed to get the comms working yet?"

x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x

The broadcasts had been sent out by Thames House, to anything that was still operational via the emergency broadcast frequency. Any other government facilities would hear it, as would anyone else with a radio, and they were going to leave the message on a loop in order for it to reach as many people as possible. They still wanted to let others know that they weren't alone, even if they hadn't quite decided what to do yet.

That was if there were any other people, Becker thought.

"Becks? I'd like to run an idea by you," Matt said, indicating to the rolled up map in his hands. "I've been thinking ever since we went to that supermarket."

Becker nodded, watching as Matt spread the map out over the table. Across the room, Connor noticed and came over to see what they were talking about, Jess and Dev following.

"Back at the supermarket, they'd cleared the place of the Dead, making it safe to go into whenever they needed, right? So, what if we could do that on a larger scale." He looked around at the others. "Like a town, maybe."

Dev said it first, and Matt could see that the others were thinking it too. "You're crazy. Think of the sheer number of people who are in a town, the number who would have died or been killed here. It would take forever, and even then there are hundreds of ways in and out- they'd just come back."

"Not if we chose our area carefully. See this section," Matt said, pointing to the map. "There are only a couple of major roads in, and then all the little back alleys. If we could block this off, it would give us about a square mile."

"With maybe thousands of those things wandering about inside," Dev pointed out again.

"It's still got to be worth a try, right? If it fails, we still have chance to evacuate through an anomaly."

Becker, silent throughout the whole discussion, looked at Connor.

"What happens to the Dead if they can't find live meat as food?" he asked. "Do they 'die', or rot away- what?"

Connor shrugged his shoulders. "I'm not sure."

"How about an educated guess, then."

"I assume that if they can't find the nutrients to consume, then their bodies would eat away at themselves, kind of like a starving person's body eats away at their fat reserves." He stopped and smiled. "I see your point. If we can wait them out, they'll die off. Again."

"How long would it take?"

"Bear in mind that this is all guesses, but a person dies of starvation in four to six weeks. It takes only about a week with no water either, but I don't know if it will affect them the same. I mean, if they're dead then they should decompose but they don't, at least not at the same rate as a proper dead person," Connor told them. "I don't know how long it would take the Dead to start to die off, seeing as they were all created at different times. It could be months before they all started to die. In the meantime, we would be the ultimate prize. We'd be under siege and they'd be getting more and more desperate to get to us."

"But theoretically, if we could wait it out, they could all be gone in the next five or six months?"

Connor just shrugged his shoulders. "Possibly. It'd be nice if we could get some more information about exactly how the virus works, or see what happens to one of them if they can't get food." He shuddered. "And before anyone thinks of it, we are not going out to catch one to study."

Matt smiled. "I think I share your feeling about that idea. However, maybe someone has survived who can shed some light on it, a biologist or virologist, even just someone with in-depth medical knowledge would help." He thought for a moment. "I don't suppose there's anyone like that over at Thames House?"

Jess shook her head. "No, there are a couple of secretaries, a computer tech, a security guard, and some who won't say what they do - I reckon they're spies. And then Leila, the woman we usually talk to. She's some kind of emergency co-ordinator."

But they had started sending the emergency broadcast. Maybe there would be someone coming who could help.

"I still think you're crazy for even thinking it," Dev said. "But I suppose it's better than spending the rest of our lives millions of years in the past."

Matt nodded his thanks before looking around at the others. "So, what do you all think?"

"It's worth a try," Becker said. "But if we're going to do this, we all need to be on board. No decisions until we've talked to the others. And we're going to need a bit more firepower."

Dev grinned. "I know just the place."

After speaking to the others, the vote came in as unanimous. As tempting as it was to just run away through the nearest anomaly, that would be likely to provide them with even more dangers than they had here. At least here, they knew what to expect whereas there they would be facing unknown environments and creatures, and they would be without decent defences for at least the first few months until they could build shelters.

There was also the matter of those who would be left behind here. They wouldn't be able to get to everyone in time; if the anomaly closed, those here would be left on their own.

Jess and Abby both looked particularly uncomfortable with the idea of 'culling' the Dead who were in the boundaries of what would become the safe zone. It was one thing to pick off the Dead if they were attacking, but this would be the equivalent of murder. Lester had calmly reminded them that it was survival and these creatures were already dead.

"Maybe we can just divert some of them," Jess suggested. "They like noise and light, right? So what if we give them something to distract them, to lead them away from here. Once they're out, we block their way back in."

Becker put an arm around her shoulders and gave her a half-hug. "We can try." It was actually kind of adorable that she was still trying to save them, even knowing what they were and what they would do if they caught anyone. "You're in charge of that; see what you can come up with."

"I've got an idea about where to get weapons from," Dev told them. "There's a couple of country sports shops around here, ones licensed to sell shotguns for things like clay pigeon shooting. We can clear them out." He looked around at the astonished faces. "Do I look like some country toff who swans around shooting at bits of clay? I've got a cousin who's into all that. Anyway, if a couple of us take one of the vehicles we can keep a low profile and bring back what we find." He paused, thinking. "I think she goes to a gun club too - have we got a telephone directory around here?"

"I don't think they'll be answering," Abby teased.

"You don't say. I can't remember where it is, but I can get the address from the directory."

Five minutes later, they had a list of three places as possible sources of ammunition, and a roughly planned route of how to get around to them all with the least amount of exposure to the main populated areas.

"I'll go with Dev," Mark offered.

Lester looked around at them all. "So does this mean that everyone is in agreement?" he asked. "No matter how suicidal it sounds."

"That's the spirit, Lester," Matt told him cheerfully. "Positive thinking."

Lester just rolled his eyes skyward and uttered a long-suffering sigh.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Early the following morning, Dev and Mark took one of the vehicles out of the garage, filling it up from the fuel supplies they had stockpiled, as the others created a diversion at the opposite side of the building. Making as much noise as they could, they drew the Dead away from the garage entrance, leaving the two men to make a clean getaway.

"They're out," Becker reported, watching as the black Hilux disappeared around the corner.

"Great. The question is, how do we get rid of this lot now?" Abby asked, indicating to the gathering crowd of people down below, attracted by the noise and promise of living humans. They growled and groaned, ineffectually clawing at and trying to climb the side of the building to get to them.

Lester glanced over the edge. "They'll go away on their own; they usually do. Come on, let's get back inside."

The Dead continued to mill about for another half hour before they lost interest and began to wander again. It was as though, once the noise and fresh meat was gone, they couldn't remember what they were scratching at the walls for in the first place and so they just drifted away. Everyone heaved a sigh of relief as the sound of bony fists beating on the doors and windows finally faded.

Once back inside, they began making plans. Weapons weren't the only things they'd need if Matt's idea was going to work; they needed to find ways of blocking off the Dead's access back into the areas they'd cleared. There were a number of construction sites nearby, city centre regeneration projects that had stalled either through lack of funds or the virus' outbreak, and they would be a good place to start.

So, the following morning, they repeated the getaway, with Matt, Becker and Lester making a break for it whilst the others caused a distraction. The three of them looked cautiously out of the vehicle as they approached the building site, but it was abandoned. It seemed that the Dead had no interest here, instead roaming the city streets.

Immediately, Matt spotted what he wanted and pointed. The huge metal panels that were usually used to block construction areas off from the general public, standing in heavy concrete blocks, were piled up next to the machinery.

"They'll be able to get through one of them," Becker said, eyeing them sceptically.

"Not if we double them up, overlap them as we position them so that they're all double the thickness. We can use them on the smaller side streets and alleys where one or two will block it," Matt told them. "That way, there won't be as much give in them if the Dead try and push through them."

Becker had to admit that it sounded reasonable, but they would still need something else for the wider streets, something more solid.

"It's a start," he said. "We could probably close off most of the side streets before they worked out we were there. Once that's done, we can start getting them out."

"There is one more thing we need to address," Lester said, "but I didn't want to say anything back at the ARC in front of Jess. We are going to need to dispose of the bodies somehow - they have to be completely incinerated, or have the brain destroyed. Preferably both."

"There's a crematorium on the outskirts of town," Becker suggested, but Lester shook his head.

"It would take too long, one at a time."

"Well then, what do you suggest?" Matt asked.

"There is a waste disposal site close by, with an industrial incinerator."

Becker glanced at Matt. He could see why Lester hadn't brought this up in front of Jess, the young woman was still determined to try and to find another option than simply 'killing' the Dead. He knew it was a sensible solution but it felt wrong to simply get rid of them like that, too much like the mass war graves he'd once seen during his time in active service. Is that how future generations would remember them? As the people who murdered so many people and then simply incinerated the bodies. That is, if there was a future generation after this mess was over. The only hope that theoretical future had was if they found a way to stop this virus spreading and protected those who were still uninfected. That was what they did with the anomalies; they tried to save what they could but they also made the unpleasant decisions for the greater good. This way, the incineration would kill the virus and prevent further infection. It was the best option.

He nodded, and so did Matt doing so as well.

"I don't like it, but we don't have a choice," Matt said.

"So what are we going to transport those fences with?" Becker asked, eager to change the subject.

Matt pointed to a JCB parked nearby and smiled. "That looks like fun," he said.

"But not practical," Lester pointed out, laughing at the disappointed look on Matt's face. "Might I suggest the flatbed truck?"

Matt sighed. "Fine. So, who's going to see if it works?" he asked.

Lester looked at them both with an expression they were all too familiar with, the one that said, 'don't even think about it'. Becker and Matt glanced at each other.

"You're better with engines," Matt pointed out. "You should go, just in case there's anything wrong."

Becker glared, even as Lester interjected, "You can both go. Matt, keep look out."

As they got out, Lester moved into the driver's seat, getting ready to make a quick escape should they need it. They didn't. Becker crawled into the truck, under the dashboard and removed the panel. He twisted Aa couple of wires twisted together and then the truck was running. It was low on fuel, but they could remedy that. At least it had enough in it to get back to the ARC.

"Becks. Movement on your left."

He looked out of the window to see one of the Dead ambling by on the other side of the wire perimeter fence a short distance away. She was perhaps in her seventies, blue and pink rollers now hanging half out of her steel-grey hair and her pink flowered dressing gown was filthy, the front covered with blood. Around her mouth were the same red traces.

"That's just creepy," Becker commented to Matt in a low voice. "Flesh-eating Dead creatures shouldn't look like sweet little old ladies in dressing gowns and slippers." He shuddered, getting out of the truck as she went past, ignoring them completely, and turned to Matt. "Go and see if you can find anything to siphon fuel into from the other vehicles."

Five minutes later, they were driving the truck back to the ARC. Matt had suggested leaving it there, but Lester vetoed the idea. Just because they hadn't seen anyone else nearby, didn't mean that there weren't other people hiding out in the city. He didn't want to return and find the truck gone.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x

About seventy miles away from the ARC, Mark got out of the car and looked around cautiously, checking for any sign that they had been noticed by the any of the Dead who were wandering aimlessly in the car park. Dev took slung the duffel bag over his shoulder, tossing another to Mark, before checking the pistol he carried.

They had already checked the two licensed sporting goods shops that Dev knew of but one had been too risky with the sheer numbers of Dead close by and the other only kept minimal amounts of ammunition on the premises. It certainly wasn't enough for what they needed. So, after a night spent in the Hilux, outside of the city in a deserted area of countryside, they had moved on to the gun club. This place was most likely to have what they wanted, but it also took them further away from the safety of the ARC. Still, after this, they could get back.

"Clear?" Dev asked in a low voice.

"As good as it's going to get."

Together they scaled the wrought iron gates and made their way across the car park, keeping to the edges until they reached the brick building. There were a few people milling about at the far side, near to the other set of gates; the far gates were partly open, though the walls were still intact. The gates, however, left a wide enough gap for any of the more persistent Dead to shuffle through if they wished to.

Dev made his way to the front doors of the building in the hope that they were unlocked, but they weren't. It was probably a good thing, he reasoned. It meant that when they actually did get inside, they wouldn't have to worry about the Dead already being in there. Unless they were in there before they turned, in which case he and Mark could be walking into an all you could eat buffet, with them as the appetisers.

"Get a grip," he berated himself. Over- thinking this wouldn't make it any better; he just needed to do his job and get out.

"Dev, side door."

Following Mark around the side of the building, he saw the staff entrance, a plain wooden door set flush to the building wall. Mark was already opening the door.

"How did you get in there?" he asked, seeing no pry-marks on the door or lock.

Mark just grinned. "Misspent youth," he said, pulling the door open and making an 'after you' gesture.

Inside it was pitch black, the windowless corridor giving gave them no light at all to see by. Dev pulled a torch from his pocket and switched it on, not sure that he really wanted to see what was in the darkness. When he saw nothing but an empty corridor, he heaved a sigh of relief. It was ridiculous. He had been to war zones, being under constant risk of being shot or blown up, where one wrong move could have spelled the end for him, but a dark building scared him more than any of that. It was just that this was something he couldn't fight, something that couldn't be rationalised: the Dead couldn't be reasoned with, or defeated, and they didn't understand the concept of surrender. All they understood was the primal urge to kill and eat, and that was what worried Dev.

He didn't want to have to witness any more of his friends die from this, or to get sick and have to beg one of them to shoot him before he turned into one of those mindless walking corpses.

It was almost a relief when he opened the door at the end of the corridor and found himself staring down the barrel of a pistol as light flooded in. It was something normal; the living were the only ones who used pistols.

"Dev, why did you stop- Oh, shit."

All that they could see of the person wielding the gun was a gloved hand and leather jacket-clad arm.

"Look, mate, we're not here to hurt you. How's about you put the gun down and we can talk, okay?" Mark said.

Their captor cocked the gun, ready to shoot.

"We'll go, how's that? We'll leave you in peace and you'll never see us again," Dev promised.

They both began to back slowly back down the corridor, faster once they realised that no one was going to shoot them.

"Wait."

Dev frowned, pausing. A tall, black- haired woman came in to view, dressed in jeans and a leather jacket, the pistol still raised but at least it wasn't cocked any longer.

"Who are you people?" she asked.

"I'm Dev, this is Mark. And you are?"

She eyed them suspiciously for another few seconds before answering. "Nancy."

Mark put his gun away and indicated for Dev to do the same. "Well, it's nice to meet you, Nancy. You're the first person we've seen outside of our group. How many of you are there here?"

Nancy frowned. "There are others? In three months, you two are the only people I've seen except for the Walkers out there. What are you two? You handle those weapons like you know what you're doing."

Dev eventually convinced her to let them in and she led them to a members' lounge, with comfortable padded chairs and a bar along one wall. She still kept the gun in her hand but from Dev's impression, she no longer intended to use it. It was more like she was carrying it for peace of mind.

"There are really others? How many?"

He told her about their group back at the ARC, watching the smile appear on her face. She looked as though a weight had been lifted from her shoulders.

"I thought for a while that I was the only one," she admitted. "Like that old film, The Omega Man. You remember it? Charlton Heston was the only man left in the whole world, everyone else having been infected and turned into these creatures." She laughed softly. "Have you ever thought that if this wasn't happening, right now, that it'd make a great film?"

Mark smiled. "You sound like Connor. You two would get along like a house on fire." He shared a glance with Dev, a silent agreement between them. "Come back with us."

Her eyes widened. "Out there? I can't go outside; the Walkers-"

"We made it here, didn't we? I'm not going to lie to you, it's bad out there, but if you know how to avoid attracting their attention you'll be fine. And besides, you've got us to protect you."

That made her smile. Mark decided it was time to broach the subject of why they had come here in the first place and quickly told her of their plan.

"We need weapons, lots of them, and ammo. It's the ammo that's the problem, really," he told her. "The place we're holed up has a pretty good armoury but we've been working through it for the past few months. We thought we might be able to re-stock here."

Nancy thought about it for a moment before asking, "This place where the rest of your people are, is it safe? They can't get in?"

Dev nodded. "It's safe. The building is a research facility and so it's built to keep out unwanted intruders."

"Okay. What kinds of things do you need? I used to work here and so I know my way around."

They found what they came here for, loaded up crates and bags of ammunition and weapons. They were mostly handguns, used by the members on the firing ranges, but there were a few rifles in the storage lockers as well. By the time they had it all, darkness was falling outside. Seeing the look of panic on Nancy's face when she noticed this, Mark suggested that they spend the night here and leave at first light.

For some reason that none of them had figured worked out, the Dead were more active in the dark, more aggressive too. In the daytime, they just ambled about, only bothering to show any interest if they smelled fresh meat.

"I hope you like cold soup," Nancy said, looking in the store room that had once held the food for the club's restaurant using light from one of the oil lamps she had lit. "There's no power, and so no way to heat food. I tried heating some over a fire I made in a metal bin but the smoke set off the alarms and I was worried it would attract the Walkers."

Dev took the bowl she offered, along with a couple of shots of whisky from the bar.

"This is fine," he assured her. "That's the other good thing about the ARC; back up generators. So long as we don't run out of fuel for them, you've got hot food and lights."

He didn't mention that the generators also kept the pens in the menagerie securely locked, or what would happen should those locks fail. It wouldn't do to scare the woman before she even got there. She was in for enough of a shock when she learned what the ARC actually did.

Nancy kept up a steady stream of chatter throughout their meal and beyond; it seemed that once they'd got her talking, they weren't going to be able to shut her up again. At one point, she looked up to see their bemused faces as they listened to her and smiled self-consciously.

"Sorry. It's just that I've had no one to talk to for months. Just tell me if I'm getting on your nerves."

Mark grinned. "You are definitely going to get along with Connor, Jess too."

x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x

The following morning, they brought their vehicle around to the side of the building, close enough to get the crates and bags over the perimeter wall and loaded up quickly. Dev locked the door behind them, reasoning that they might need to come back here at some point.

With a final look back at her temporary home, Nancy got into the car, glancing about nervously. When she saw one of the Dead nearby, she let out a low whimper, sinking down into the seat.

"Nancy, it's fine," Dev told her. "See, it's not bothering with us."

"In any case, I think we should get back to the others," Mark added, carefully manoeuvring the vehicle back out onto the street.

The sound of the engine sparked a bit of interest, but they were gone before any of the Dead thought about getting closer. Once out of the populated areas and back onto the country lanes, Nancy relaxed, sitting up higher in her seat again. She still had her pistol in her lap but at least she wasn't gripping it so tightly now.

Three hours later they were on the outskirts of town, about five minutes drive from the ARC. Mark took a hand-held radio from the glove compartment. Connor had told him to call in when they returned so that the look outs at the ARC could direct them to the clearest streets.

"ARC? Anyone there?"

There was a burst of static and then Connor's voice. "Mark?"

"We're coming in. Any places we should steer clear of?"

There was a brief pause and then Connor came back on, sounding out of breath. "Sorry; had to get to the roof. Where are you?"

Once Mark told him, Connor came back to him with instructions and he set off again. It seemed that the Dead had grown bored of with hanging around near the ARC, he thought, seeing that it was almost deserted out front save for a couple of people.

One man spotted the car and began shuffling in their direction, slowly, more curious than intent on attacking. Nancy gripped the gun again, clutching it to her chest as she watched out of the window, but they were inside before he even got close. The moment that the doors were closed behind them and locked securely, Dev reached back and gently lowered her trembling hands, and the gun.

"We're here," he told her. "You won't need that. Come on, I'll introduce you to everyone."

Becker was there almost immediately, eagerly opening the back doors to inspect their haul, Lester at his side.

"You look like you just got your birthday and Christmas presents all at once," Mark joked, seeing Becker's eyes light up at the crates of weapons.

The former soldier turned to him, smiling. "Not bad," he told them. "This should do nicely."

"Good. Becker, this is Nancy. Nancy, that's Becker, Matt and James." As they greeted her, he looked around before asking, "Where's everyone else?"

"Up in the staffroom," Becker said, leading them upstairs and running through the introductions again for the people Nancy hadn't met.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Mark stared at the street map pinned on the wall with little lines drawn on it in numerous places, most in pencil but a few were in red ink. It formed an oval shaped perimeter with the ARC roughly in the middle. It was obvious from the rubbed out and re-drawn pencil lines that they had spent some time working out the best plan and Mark was glad to see that they had included the supermarket in their safe-zone. It would make food runs easier, and the petrol station attached to the supermarket was a source of fuel for the generators and vehicles.

"Red lines are what we've done so far," Becker told him. "Seems to be working too. They get to one of the fences and just go back; they don't try to get through them or over them."

Nancy was looking at the map an expression of disbelief on her face. "I thought you were joking," she told Mark. "But you're actually doing it."

Lester looked over at them all, examining the map with the same enthusiasm he had seen them display whilst chasing an interesting dinosaur.

"You'll find that they have very little comprehension of the word 'stupid' around here," he told themher. "Or 'impossible'. They merely take it as a challenge. Now, Nancy, was it? Let's find you somewhere to sleep. Jess, if you would?"

Jess found her some blankets and showed her up to the floor they were using as sleeping quarters.

"You can share with me and Abby if you like, or if you'd rather be on your own, we won't be offended," she said.

Nancy shook her head. "I've spent quite enough time on my own; I'd prefer to share, if it wouldn't inconvenience you and Abby."

Jess just smiled and showed her to the large office that she and Abby were sleeping in. "I wouldn't have asked if I didn't mean it. So, this is me and Abby, down this side is Mark, then Dev. That's Connor's room," she continued, pointing. "Though he doesn't use it any more; he usually sleeps in James's room, across the corridor."

"They're together?" Nancy asked. "Like a couple?" Jess nodded and after a moment, Nancy asked, "So where does Matt sleep?"

"With Becker." Jess laughed at the disappointed look on Nancy's face and tossed the blankets to her. "Come on, let's get you a bed made up."

x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x

It wasn't easy but over the next week they managed to extend their improvised blockade. They went out in teams; three people to get the fence in place and secure it, two for look- out and possible distraction duty. Some of the walkways that ran between the buildings, back alleys that connected the shops and offices, already had metal gates that could be pulled across and chained shut. What had once been used to prevent people from sleeping in the doorways overnight could now be used to keep out a different kind of trespasser.

Becker, Matt and Mark hefted another of the metal fences as quietly as they could and carried it into place. Sometimes there were old hinges fixed into the brickwork of the buildings, leftovers of times gone by, that the gates cold be fixed to. Other places weren't as simple, and this was one of those places. A raid on a DIY store across town, however, had fixed that problem. Instant Quick setting cement. It would have made a brilliant advert for the stuff: sets instantly, great for keeping out the walking dead. Not quite what they'd had in mind when they'd made the stuff, Becker thought, but it worked just as well for concreting the edge of a metal fence into a drain or a narrow crevice in the architecture as it would for fixing fence posts into place in your garden.

A warning from their look-outs told them that there were Dead nearby but they carried on working. The small earpieces were perfect for this; unlike radios, they made no noise to attract the Dead to their position or that of the look outs. It was just a warning, however, that there were Dead close by but not hunting. They would tell them if the wanderers were getting curious and that was time to down tools and make for the truck to get out of here as quickly as possible.

A second fence was overlapped with the first and fixed in the same way, the overlap wired closed and making the fence just that bit stronger.

"Grab the gear," Becker told them just as his earpiece sounded with Connor's voice. This time it was time to go.

A man and a woman reached the end of the alley, looking at the three of them. The woman's head cocked to one side. Suddenly, there was a loud crash outside in the street as something was hurled off the rooftop and they both turned and left again, their interest piqued by the sound.

Tools and equipment quickly gathered, the three men hurried for the truck. Moments later, Dev and Connor appeared at the bottom of a fire escape across the street, darting to the truck and climbing into the cab. It was a tight squeeze with five grown men in there but it was better than walking back to the ARC.

They had done four more fences today; it wasn't as fast as they would like, but when they marked them off on the map, it looked more like progress.

"You know, this would be quicker with more people," Matt pointed out. "If we could have a few teams out together, we'd have this place locked down in no time."

But so far, no one else had arrived. They didn't know if the message had even reached any other survivors, much less if they actually intended to come here. Leila back at Thames House was planning to stay a little longer with a few of the techs so that they could try and to transfer control of the broadcast system to the ARC, enabling them to continue the broadcasts remotely. The others, around twenty people, were intending to make their way here but it would be a while before they arrived.

"I'll help," Nancy told them. "I don't like just sitting around here, not doing anything to help you."

"I will too," Jess announced, looking about as confident as Nancy.

Matt looked at the two of them, both terrified at the prospect of going outside but determined to do it anyway.

"Are you sure you want to?" Both women nodded firmly. "Okay then."

x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x

When the anomaly detector sounded two days later, Jess rushed to the desk to find the location. It had been quiet lately, this being the first alert they'd had since Becker and his team had returned nearly three weeks earlier.

"It's nearby," she said. "About ten miles to the North. It looks like it's opened on the motorway."

Matt looked to Becker. "Well?"

"We should check it out, to stop any of the infected from getting through more than preventing a creature incursion," Becker pointed out. "If they got through and infected the timelines it could be catastrophic."

"I wonder what would happen if a creature ate one of the Dead," Connor mused. "D'you reckon it would infect the creature as well?"

Becker shook his head. "No creature would eat one of them; creatures don't eat dead meat. And those things smell dead, even to our human noses."

"Leopards do," Connor said thoughtfully. "They take their kill and stash it in a tree until they want it. They prefer it like that. Can you imagine if they did eat one and the virus could spread to them? Walking dead dinosaurs. Weird."

"Connor, you're not helping." Lester gave Connor's arm a squeeze to stop him talking and looked to Becker. "Your choice, Becker. Take Matt, if you wish; the rest of us can continue here."

"I'll get you the anomaly locking device," Connor told them, hurrying off to collect it. "You remember how to use it, don't you?"

Becker took the cases containing the equipment, collecting a radio and a fresh battery, and nodded. "We shouldn't be long," he said. "We'll go, close the anomaly, and be back as quickly as we can."

Matt collected a couple of EMD's for any creatures, as well as live-firing weapons, and followed Becker to the garage.

-To be continued…


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The anomaly was indeed in the middle of the motorway; had the motorway been in use, it would have caused chaos. As it was, the glittering ball of light hung in the air in the empty inside lane. Quickly scanning the area, they got out and began setting up the locking device to close the anomaly and get back to the ARC.

"I think something is coming," Becker said, lifting his shotgun and trying to see the source of the faint rustling he'd heard.

He heard a twig snap moments before the shaggy head of a golden retriever popped up from the shallow dip at the side of the road.

"False alarm," he reported back to Matt, lowering the shotgun again and letting it hang from the strap over his shoulder. "Let's get this anomaly closed and get out of here."

Whilst Becker activated the locking device, Matt moved closer to the dog. It looked a bit underfed, and its coat was matted and dirty, but otherwise it looked in good health. He remembered the cat they had seen on their first day back in the city; he couldn't leave the dog wandering about for the Dead to catch. Crouching down, he held out his hand to it, waiting for it to come to him.

"Becks, have you got any food on you?"

Becker pressed the last button and the anomaly shrank into a tight sphere in the air. Now that it was secure, he checked his pockets.

"Got a bit of chocolate left - hang on, you're not giving it to the dog."

Matt glared at him in exasperation. "Stop being a baby and hand it over. I'll get you some more."

With a sigh, Becker did, watching as Matt held it out for the dog to smell as he edged closer. The dog backed up, hackles rising as it began to growl. Matt stopped moving, breaking off a small piece of chocolate and tossing it to the dog. After a moment's suspicion, it darted forward and snatched it off the ground before retreating again.

"There's plenty more where that came from," Matt told it in a low voice. "Come on, we aren't going to hurt you."

It made no move to come to him, still crouched and ready to defend itself, and so he threw it a bit more chocolate.

Lester was not going to be happy, Becker thought as he looked back at the Retriever sitting up in the back seat a short while later, watching the world go by out of the window. He already complained about the menagerie, about how much food the creatures ate and how much power it took to keep their area temperature controlled and secured. Not that he would ever try and have them removed, and not only because Abby would be furious if he ever suggested it. No, Becker had seen him sneak down the menagerie when no one else was around to go and see the mammoth, or to play with Rex or the Diictodons.

When it noticed his attention, the dog bounced forward and leaned its chin on the back of his seat, looking up at him with huge brown eyes, begging to be petted. Becker obliged, scratching it behind one ear and it whined, leaning into his hand for more. He caught sight of Matt smirking at him as he drove.

"Oh, shut up."

Matt laughed. "I think he likes you."

Becker stroked the dog's head. "I wonder where its owners are," he mused. He looked at Matt. "Do you ever think about your family, about if they're okay?"

"No. I don't have any family here, just my dad but I lost him a couple of months before we went through that anomaly."

"What? Why didn't you say anything? You didn't have to go through that on your own," Becker said. "I didn't even know he lived nearby - I would have loved to have met him."

Matt pulled the Hilux over to the side of the road, though why he did, he wasn't sure. There were no other cars on the roads; he could have stopped in the middle and no one would have crashed into them.

"It was complicated. There are some things you don't know about me, about my dad," Matt told him. "And he didn't know about me and you."

Becker was silent for a long moment. "Oh. Didn't he know you were gay, or would he just not have approved of me?" he asked quietly. "Or was that it, you were ashamed of me?"

"No! He would have adored you but, like I said, it was complicated."

"Its fine," Becker told him. "Doesn't matter."

Matt could see that it did, though. He'd seen the hurt look in Becker's eyes when he'd said it and it was one he never wanted to see again. He'd thought that hiding his past, his true reasons for being here, were for the best but he hadn't planned on starting this thing with Becker or on just how involved they would become. He started the vehicle again and drove the few miles back to the outskirts of the city. He'd seen a house set back from the road, with open fields surrounding it and with no signs of Dead nearby, and he pulled in.

"We're stopping for a while," he informed Becker, seeing the confusion in his boyfriend's face. "We need to talk, and I don't really want to do it back at the ARC."

"It's-"

"Don't say it's fine, because it isn't. I should have done this a long time ago."

A quick sweep of the house and gardens revealed that they were on their own here, with no sign of the previous owners, dead or alive. The open land around the house ensured that they wouldn't be surprised, giving them a good view of anyone or anything before it reached them. Matt pulled the car into the driveway and closed the gates behind them.

"There you go, dog. You have a run around whilst me and Becker have a chat."

The retriever bounced out of the car and did its own cautionary check of the gardens, its tail eventually starting to wag as it sniffed about. As soon as Matt and Becker went into the house, though, it followed closely, not wanting to be left behind again.

"We should give it a name," Becker said. "We can't keep calling it dog all of the time."

Matt closed the door behind them. "Later. Now stop changing the subject." He led a reluctant Becker to the front room, sitting down on the sofa. "I'm not really sure where to start," he confessed. "I suppose I should just come out and say it. My dad and I came here through an anomaly about 15 years ago. It wasn't an accident; we volunteered, as did a number of others from our time. We were all sent to different points in time, to try to stop something happening that had devastated our world. We knew it had something to do with the anomaly project, but no one was sure exactly what. We just knew we had to stop it from happening." He paused. "You remember when I said to you that this shouldn't have happened, that it didn't happen? Well, it didn't. In my time, this virus never took hold, it didn't even come into existence. Something has already changed, but not for the better."

"So all this time you've been here to do what? Spy on us? Sabotage the project?" Becker asked. "All this time you've been lying to us. To me. I thought that I knew you."

"Becks, you do. I haven't lied to you about anything," Matt insisted. "I may have omitted a few things, but I haven't lied to you."

"But you were still there to spy on us all."

"No. Well, yes. But not on you. If I'd thought you had anything to do with what happened, I wouldn't have got involved with you in the first place. You're the one I trust more than anyone. You're also the reason I spent these last few months lying to my dad. I knew that if I told him about you that he'd make me stop seeing you, tell me that I should be focussing on the mission." He reached out to Becker but the other man just sat there. "I didn't want to give you up and so I lied to him. I'd never lied to him about anything my entire life, but you were too important to me."

This time Becker's eyes met his and Matt smiled. "I wish that the circumstances had been different and that you could have met him. He really would have liked you." Matt knew he had to ask, even if he wasn't sure he was ready for the answer. "The question is, can you forgive me for not telling you all this sooner?"

Becker shrugged his shoulders. "I just feel like I don't even know you." He stood and headed for the door. "I need to think. I'm going to take the dog for a walk."

"You are coming back, though?" Matt asked, sounding worried. Becker didn't answer, he just went out, leaving Matt alone.

Three hours later, Matt heard barking outside and leapt to his feet. Becker hadn't returned yet and if he was being honest, Matt was starting to get worried. He knew that Becker could take care of himself but that wasn't what was concerning him. No, he was worried that Becker hadn't intended to return at all. He was out of the door in an instant, scanning the surrounding fields for the source of the sound.

He saw Becker and the dog near the edge of the road, a pistol in Becker's hand, silencer fitted to the barrel. He heaved a sigh of relief, glad that despite his mood when he left he'd still had the sense to take a gun. Lying on the road in front of them was a young man, and even from here it was clear that he was one of the Dead. Now he was still, Becker and the dog both looking down at him, checking to make sure he didn't move again. The dog was growling loudly, hackles raised again.

When Becker turned and saw Matt standing on the driveway he hurried across, letting himself back into the grounds and closing the gate.

"Are you all right?" Matt wanted to pull him close and see for himself but he didn't, not knowing how welcome it would be.

Becker nodded. "It was just one, on his own. We never saw anyone else." Doing what Matt had wanted but hadn't dared, Becker curled his fingers around the back of Matt's neck, drawing him in close enough to press a kiss to his lips. "I'm sorry."

Matt frowned. "What for? I'm the one who kept all that shit from you."

"It doesn't matter, any of it. It hit me whilst we were out walking just how stupid it was; with all that's happening at the moment, a few twisted truths are the least of our worries," Becker told him. "I still would like to hear the whole story, if you want to tell me."

Matt felt as though a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. He had meant it when he said that Becker mattered too much to him to risk losing him.

"I really am sorry," Matt insisted. "And I promise I will never keep things from you again."

Becker smiled. "Good. Now, how about we go inside so you can start apologising properly?"

"Yes sir." He opened the house door and let Becker through, waiting for the retriever to join them.

"Sorry, dog, but you're sleeping on your own tonight," Matt told it, leading Becker in the direction of the stairs.

"His name's Bob," Becker informed Matt, glancing back at the dog, now curled up on the sofa.

"Bob?"

Becker shrugged his shoulders. "He looked like a Bob."

Matt laughed. "Fine, Bob it is. Now, unless you want to invite him to join us, how about we leave the dog here and go upstairs? I've been dreaming about a proper comfy bed for months."

"Just the bed?"

"More like a nice comfy bed with a naked ex-special forces soldier in it," Matt amended. "One who's tall, dark, ever so sexy…"

"I'm liking the sound of this."

"… with a weird fetish for his gun-"

"Hey! I have not."

Matt smirked at him. "So if I told you what I'd like to do with that gun, how I'd like to run that cold steel over your skin, you wouldn't care?" he teased. "Or if I said I'd thought about slipping that barrel inside you, fucking you with it -"

He found his sentence cut off abruptly as Becker backed him into the wall, mouth on his, kissing him furiously. Becker's body pressed against his, the hard bulge behind his combat trousers testament to his arousal as he rubbed up against Matt. His fingers scrabbled frantically at Matt's shirt, tugging it open so that he could touch, skin to skin.

"Not here," Matt said, stilling Becker's hands. Becker's slightly unfocused gaze met his and Matt nodded toward Bob, sitting on the sofa, staring at them. "The dog is watching us."

Once Becker stopped, Matt grabbed his hand and dragged him toward the stairs, stripping him as they went along. When they got to the master bedroom, he pushed Becker down onto the double bed, naked, dropping down after him. Becker tried to reach for him again but Matt gave him a light smack.

"No, you're just going to lie there and look pretty," he said. "Okay?"

Becker nodded, keeping his hands on the bed where Matt had instructed, fidgeting as the other man nipped gently at the hollow at the base of his throat. Matt shifted lower, using his lips and teeth to tease his way down Becker's body until he closed his lips around the head of Becker's cock. Becker's fingers clenched around the bedcovers as Matt took him into that warm, wet mouth, trying to keep his hands at his sides.

When he tried to lift his hips, to encourage Matt to take more of him in, he felt hands on his thighs, holding him down.

"Matt, please…"

Matt lifted off him, causing Becker to utter a whine that he'd deny later.

"Yes, dear?" he asked innocently. Becker tried again to get him to continue but Matt shook his head. "Stay still," he warned.

"But Matt…"

Matt crawled back up Becker's body to sit astride his hips and leaning over to grab his bag from the floor, pulling out the tube of lube he'd taken last time they'd gone on a supply run from the ARC. He spread some on his fingers before putting the tube down on Becker's chest. Becker yelped.

"Cold!"

Rolling his eyes, Matt took it away, dropping it on the bed instead. Becker watched the expressions on Matt's face as he leaned forward, balancing on one hand, the other prepping himself. Craning his neck, he could see Matt's slick fingers sliding in and out of his own body and he wanted nothing more than to move his hands, to reach back there and help, but he didn't. This was Matt's show and if he didn't obey, Matt might just stop. He didn't want that.

Eventually, Matt pulled his fingers free as he lifted just enough to impale himself on Becker's cock, sinking down slowly until Becker was all the way inside him.

Becker groaned softly, relishing the feel of that tight heat all around him, gripping him. Matt reached down and touched Becker's cheek, making him look up and meet Matt's eyes as the other man began to move, fucking himself slowly on Becker's cock. Unable to keep still any longer, Becker palmed Matt's cock, stroking it to the same pace that Matt moved. When he looked into the other man's eyes he saw the absolute love staring back at him and knew that it really didn't matter where Matt had come from. All that mattered was that he was here, now, with Becker.

"Fuck, Becks," Matt murmured. "Close."

Becker shifted his hips slightly so that every stroke brushed over Matt's prostate, hearing the delightfully filthy moans that came from Matt's lips.

"Becks!"

Come spilled over Becker's hand and stomach as Matt came with Becker's name on his lips. His body clenched around Becker's cock, gripping him tightly and drawing Becker's climax along with his, Becker emptying himself into Matt.

Moments later, Matt lifted himself off Becker and dropped to the bed beside him, sated, and Becker pulled him into his arms. Matt pressed a soft kiss to Becker's lips.

"I really am sorry."

Becker smiled. "Apology accepted."

x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x

It was dark when Matt awoke to the not-altogether-unpleasant sensation of a tongue licking the back of his neck. Followed by the tickle of hair on his shoulder - Hang on, Becker's hair was short, which could only mean one thing…

"Bob, get off me!"

He opened his eyes and rolled away from the dog, now sitting on the bed next to him where Becker had been sleeping. The man in question was standing in the doorway with a ceramic bowl of water for the dog in his hands that was in danger of being spilled given that he was laughing so hard.

"Down, Bob," he told the dog, setting the bowl on the carpet near to the door. The other man glared at him as he wiped at his neck as the dog jumped off the bed. "He was lonely downstairs."

Matt stared at him in disbelief. "And this is the same person who didn't even want me to give the dog his chocolate when we first found him?"

"We've had a chance to bond since then," Becker told him, getting back into bed as Bob went to the blanket that Becker had put down for him to sleep on, turning around in tight circles for a while before finally lying down. "He's a good dog; it was him who alerted me to the bloke out on the road. He started growling before I'd even noticed. You know, when I was a kid, we didn't have pets; mum said they were messy. My brother, Piers, wanted a dog but she always said no. Then again, there's no way I would have let my brother loose with a pet rock, never mind a live animal."

"You're still wondering if they're okay, aren't you?" Matt asked. "I've been thinking that we could take a detour on the way back, go and see."

"It would be a bloody long detour," Becker pointed out. "My parents house is about sixty miles from here, and then to my brother's place. We should get back to the ARC; the others need our help."

Matt shook his head. "The roads are all empty so we wouldn't be worrying about traffic. If we set off first thing in the morning, we could be there by mid-morning, with enough time to put your mind at ease and get back to the ARC before nightfall." He could still see Becker's indecision, still thinking about his responsibility to those back at the ARC. He laid a hand on Becker's arm. "They're family. The others will understand."

"But what if we get there and they're like those creatures. I can't do what I'd need to do, not to my family," Becker said. That was his biggest fear; it had been bad enough to put a bullet in Luke to stop him from rising, but his mum and dad and his brother would already be up and moving after this length of time if they had been infected. He couldn't pull the trigger if that was what he found. "Maybe I'm better off not knowing."

"No," Matt told him. "It's killing you, the not knowing. Suppose you get there and they're all fine. Can you risk not finding out? I'll radio back to the ARC and tell them we're going to be a couple of days, okay?"

Becker nodded. "Thanks."

It took Becker a while to get back to sleep, his mind working over scenario after scenario, unable to stop himself thinking the worst. Eventually, he managed to doze off, knowing that he had to get some sleep before tomorrow.

The next time he woke up it was to the feel of a warm body pressed to his back, hard cock nestled against his arse. Matt's arm was around his waist, his hand around Becker's cock.

"Oh goody, you're awake," Matt said, close enough that Becker could feel his hot breath on his neck with every word. "I couldn't sleep and I was getting bored."

Becker groaned; Matt was one of those people who was always wide awake at the crack of dawn and then insisted that Becker should be too in order to keep him company. Becker had spent too long being woken up ridiculously early when he was still in the Army. Now, if he didn't need to get up, he refused to do so until a reasonable time just to prove a point.

"It's not even daylight yet. You couldn't let me sleep for another hour?"

Matt's hand continued to tease his cock. "If I did that, I wouldn't have time to fuck you before we had to leave, would I?"

Okay, so maybe that was a good enough reason to wake up early. He felt Matt kiss the side of his throat and sighed happily.

"'S nice."

Matt laughed softly. "You're still not quite conscious, are you?"

Becker opened his eyes again. "I am. Promise."

Letting Matt manoeuvre him how he wanted, Becker pushed back against the slick fingers probing at his arse. Matt's thigh slipped in between his as the digits pressed inside, opening him up.

"Mmm, feels good," he murmured. "No, don't stop…"

But then Matt was back, filling him again, his cock pressing into Becker ever so slowly until he was buried deep. He stilled then, and Becker tried pushing back onto him, to encourage him to move.

"'Thought you said something about fucking me. Come on," he baited. "Fuck me like you mean it. I want to be reminded of this every time I sit down today, I want to feel it when I walk."

Matt pulled back and rolled him onto his stomach, dragging Becker's hips up so that he was on his knees. Any notion of taking it slowly had vanished and he slammed back into Becker, fingers gripping his hips so tightly that the marks would be there long afterwards. He took Becker hard, pounding into him just as he wanted.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x

At the ARC, everyone was woken up by Connor's shouts from the detector room. They hurried, expecting to find a problem or an invasion by the Dead, but all they found was Connor. He was standing by the radio, a huge grin on his face.

"It's the middle of the night," Jess grumbled. "This better be good."

Connor looked around, confused, as though not realising that it had got so late.

"Sorry. Anyway, I couldn't sleep so I was messing with the radio, just seeing if there was anyone else out there." Connor glanced up at the others. "I know, it's stupid, but I thought that there might be someone out there who might be listening. Anyway, I found someone. She says she's at the Atkins Institute."

The Atkins Institute was one of the names that had been speculated about during the early stages of the virus, one of the labs that were rumoured to have been involved with the creation of it in the first place. Since no one had heard from them after that, everyone had assumed that all of the staff had fallen to the virus. In actual fact, as Connor had found out, there were still some people left there.

"She said that their communications had been down and it's only recently that someone ended up there who could get them up and running again," Connor told them. "Her name is Dr Catherine Steele."

Abby yawned and sat down next to Jess. "You think she's legit?"

"I'm sure she is. And that's not the best bit," Connor continued. "Guess what?"

Abby sighed. "Connor, it's one o'clock in the morning. If you're going to make me play guessing games, I'm going back to sleep."

"You people are no fun," Connor told them. "Okay then: we were right. They have been running experiments at the Institute and they've found that it takes roughly four and a half months for the Dead to die, or whatever you want to call it, if they don't have any form of nutrients to keep the body going."

"And they found this out how, exactly?" Jess asked. She looked around at the expressions on everyone's faces. "Oh God, they let one starve to death, didn't they? Just sat back and studied it. That's horrible."

Connor nodded his head. "She said it was by accident. One of the lab techs got turned but the lab he was in sealed itself to prevent contamination. They didn't find him until they searched the lower levels for supplies but they could tell when he was locked in from the time stamp on the automatic lock." He grimaced, thinking about it. "She said it wasn't pleasant; he just started to decay as he would have if he hadn't been reanimated. The brain was the last to go, taking everything that the body had left until he was conscious, but there wasn't enough muscle tissue left in his body to move."

"Just how long were you talking to this woman before you called us?" Lester asked.

"Couple of hours; we lost track of time. Anyway, there are sixteen people in the Institute. Catherine said that they've been trying to find some kind of cure, or at least a vaccine for the virus but, as they didn't create it, they're having to start from scratch and it's not going well."

At least that answered the question on everyone's minds as to whether the rumours were true about the Atkins Institute having any involvement with the original outbreak. When Lester mentioned this, Connor said he'd already asked. Catherine had confirmed it wasn't them, but she didn't know about the other facilities. If it had been either a military or a classified research project, they weren't likely to tell anyone else, especially others in the biological research field.

Abby yawned again, and stood up. "Right, I'm going back to bed; we can talk about this tomorrow morning."

Jess followed, heading back to their bedroom, as did everyone else, leaving Connor watching them in dismay. This was exciting and they were going back to sleep? He sighed, trailing reluctantly after Lester.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Becker lowered himself gingerly into the driver's seat of the Hilux as Matt bundled Bob and a few supplies stolen from the house into the back.

"Ready to go?" he asked, climbing into the passenger seat. "The quicker we get there, the quicker you can stop worrying about it, right?"

"I suppose," Becker agreed, starting the vehicle and taking them back out onto the road. "I'm just not sure I'm ready for what I'll find."

When they arrived at the end of the familiar street, Becker still wasn't sure that he was ready for this. There was no one around, dead or alive, the street deserted. He could see his parents' home from here, the semi-detached house that he had grown up in. The gates were still closed across the drive; that was a good sign, wasn't it? It meant that nothing had gone in. It also meant that if they hadn't survived, they would still be in there.

A hand touching his arm made him jump.

"Still with me?" Matt asked. He sighed. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have pushed you into this. We don't have to go in."

"I'm going," Becker told him, pulling up at the end of the driveway and getting out.

Matt was right; he had to do this, to get an answer one way or the other. After telling Bob to stay and making sure that he couldn't escape, they set off toward the house, constantly scanning the street for any signs of movement. Matt was by his side, pistol in hand, as they walked up the driveway, following Becker as he went past the front door and around the side of the house, so used to going in this way whenever he visited.

Opening the door with the key Becker took from its hiding place in the greenhouse where his mum always left it for emergencies, they went inside. Room by room they searched the ground floor. When they reached the lounge, Matt put a hand out to stop Becker.

"Becks, I think you should let me go first," he said.

Becker paused. A feeling of dread had settled in his stomach; there was an aroma in the air that couldn't possibly be mistaken. He had barely taken two steps into the room when he turned and bolted, pushing past Matt to get outside before he threw up. Matt looked into the room and his heart froze.

In the middle of the room lay a dark-haired woman. Her eyes were wide open, revealing the horror and fear frozen there, mouth open in a silent scream. The side of her throat had been torn out, her clothing ripped, the flesh underneath missing large sections. There was a pool of dark, almost black, blood under her head from a stab wound to her right temple, soaked into the carpet, a kitchen knife on the floor next to her.

Beside her was a man, the resemblance to Becker obvious if you added twenty years. He had the look of the Dead; his skin dull, eyes bloodshot and mouth curved into a snarl. All around his mouth and face was covered with dried blood and pieces of flesh were still caught in his teeth.

There was a meat cleaver buried in his forehead.

Matt turned and hurried out after Becker, making sure he closed the door first. Outside he found Becker on his knees, retching into a flowerpot. When he heard Matt he looked back, sagging to lean against the fence, eyes glistening.

"I had to get out of there. My mum… dad -" he turned and retched again.

Going back into the kitchen Matt found a cloth, wetting it from the water bottle in his bag before passing the rest of the water to Becker.

"Here, have a drink and get rid of the taste," he said, cleaning Becker up as best he could with the cloth. "I'm just going back inside for a minute; I want to check something. You stay here."

Becker shook his head. "I have to bury them."

"No, _we_ do. You're not doing this on your own," Matt told him.

Sending Becker to find some sheets to wrap them in, Matt looked around for a key to the garden shed to get some shovels. He could hardly face going back into that room himself but he knew that however horrible this was for him, it was a hundred times worse for Becker. He regretted even suggesting that they come back here now; if he'd just kept his mouth shut, Becker would never have had to see that. He would have wondered for ever more but at least there would have been a tiny bit of hope that they were okay. Now, all he'd see was the image of his parents, dead, every time he closed his eyes.

For the first time in his life he was glad that he was alone in this world. He would never have to witness that.

A crash upstairs drew his attention, followed by another, and Matt set off running. He expected to find that Becker had dropped something or tripped and fallen. What he found was Becker kicking his way through a door on the first floor.

"What are you doing?"

"There's someone in here. I heard them."

Becker gave the door another kick, sending it flying open as the lock smashed. It bounced off the wall and swung shut again but Becker stopped it with his foot. Inside, Matt saw a thin, terrified-looking man huddled against the far wall. When Becker barged in, he cringed away.

"Piers? It's me, Hilary." Becker edged closer to the man, treating him as he would a skittish animal.

The man looked up then, shaking his head as though not trusting what he was seeing. It took him a while but eventually Piers let Becker help him up. When he tried to lead him out of the filthy bedroom, however, he began to panic.

"Okay, okay; we'll stay here for a bit longer," Becker told him, sitting down on the bed.

This had once been his room, now kept as a guest room for when he or Piers visited. At present, the room smelled as though Piers had been living it in, the empty food cans and bottles littering the floor a testament to that.

"How long have you been in here?"

Piers was still casting Matt suspicious looks, staying as close to Becker as he could. Now wasn't exactly the best time for an introduction, Becker thought, as he held out a hand for Matt to come closer.

"Piers, this is Matt. My boyfriend," he said. "Matt, meet my brother, Piers."

Matt nodded to the other man, not making any attempt to approach him for fear of spooking him again. Instead, he went to do what they came here to do, going to find the linen cupboard and get a couple of sheets.

Twenty minutes later, Becker came downstairs, leading his brother by the arm. Matt closed the door to the lounge; the two of them didn't need to see that again.

"Piers, I need you to go and wait in the car," Becker told him. "There's something we have to do."

Piers' fingers tightened on Becker's arm, clinging to him in a death grip. "No, please don't make me go out there on my own. Please, Hilary."

Matt could see that Becker was barely holding it together, pretending only for the sake of his brother.

"You should wait outside," he told Piers softly. "We need to deal with your mum and dad."

Piers' gaze went to the closed door he began to shake.

"I had to, you understand, don't you?" he said to Becker, eyes pleading. "He got sick... Oh God. I couldn't make him stop. I had to stop him but it was too late. Mum was gone. I couldn't let her turn into one of them so I- I..."

Becker hugged his brother. "You did the right thing. You didn't leave her as one of those creatures. It's okay."

"There was so much blood…"

In the end, Matt took them both outside and sat them on the front steps. He went back to the car and got Bob, fastening him to the piece of rope they were using for a lead. The dog bounced into the garden and straight to Becker to have his ears scratched before snuffling at Piers in the hope of getting some attention.

"I thought we should let him out of the car for a bit of fresh air before we have to drive back," Matt told them. He passed the rope lead to Piers. "Can you look after him for a while?"

Piers nodded, giving him a look that said he knew exactly what Matt was doing, trying to distract him. It was also a look of relief at having somewhere else to be whilst they did what was necessary.

"Okay. What's his name?"

"Bob." At Piers' frown, Matt smiled. "Don't blame me; it was your brother who named him."

Leaving them on the front steps, Matt and Becker went back around to the open door.

"I can do this for you if you want," Matt told him.

Becker declined. He had to do this, for closure more than anything else.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x

The drive back to the ARC was silent. Matt drove while Becker stared out of the window, lost in thought. He had taken a couple of photo albums from his parents' house before they left and had spent the first half of the journey looking though them. Piers was in the back seat with Bob's chin resting in his lap, petting the dog's head absently. They had made him eat a couple of energy bars after getting a good look at him outside in the light, seeing just how underweight he was. He told them he had gone to stay with his parents when everything started getting crazy but then his dad had got sick. Shortly after, the scene in the lounge had happened and Piers had simply taken what food he could find and locked himself back in the bedroom. Not wanting to have to deal with the outside world. From what he had seen, Matt assumed it had been a few weeks at least.

Just after five o'clock, Matt laid a hand on Becker's thigh to get his attention.

"We're a couple of minutes out," he said.

Becker pulled out his gun and checked the clip, laying it on the dashboard in front of him, as Matt radioed in to the ARC to check that their approach was clear. In the back seat, Piers was suddenly alert once more, looking uneasily at the guns.

"What's going on? Why are we stopping?"

Matt flashed him a reassuring smile. "We're almost there," he said. "I'm just waiting for our friends to tell us it's safe to go in."

The radio crackled then and Lester's voice came back, telling them that they were clear to return.

"See?" he said to Piers. "Nothing to worry about."

The short trip across the city was uneventful, the numbers of Dead wandering around severely diminished. As they passed by, Matt could see the fences blocking many of the alleys and side streets. It looked as though the others had been busy while they were away.

When they got inside the ARC they could see just how busy. The map on the wall had more red lines on, the safe zone taking shape. Matt felt a pang of guilt at leaving them to do this, seeing as it had been his idea in the first place, but Becker had needed him to be there. The safe zone might have been his idea but Becker was his first priority.

He and Becker took the new arrivals up to the staff room to meet everyone, Bob wagging his tail enthusiastically as he sniffed around, pausing only to glance back at them every so often to make sure they were still there. Piers didn't look quite so enthusiastic, following Becker in.

There were six strangers in the room when Matt looked around, the first of the refugees to arrive after hearing the radio broadcast. They had arrived the previous morning, Connor told him as he made the introductions. They were also part of the reason that the barricades were being constructed faster; there were now three teams working on them. They had even had to drive out to find other supplies to use as fencing, even resorting to bricking up some of the alleys and, once the wall had set, removing the fence from the other side to use elsewhere.

As the others talked about their progress, he could see that Becker and his brother were itching to get away, the days events having taken their toll on the pair of them. Becker was holding on by a thread and Matt suspected that once he was on his own, not having to keep calm for Piers, his 'everything's fine' façade was going to crumble. Standing again, he pulled Becker to his feet.

"Come on, let's find Piers a bed and then I think we should turn in, too," he said.

Piers followed obediently to the offices they were using as bedrooms, now spread over two floors due to the new arrivals.

"I think you should stay with me and Becks - sorry, I mean Hilary," Matt told him, but Piers shook his head, opting instead for the office next door to theirs. "Are you sure you want to be on your own? At least keep Bob with you."

"I can't. If I hear him moving about in the night it'll make me think…" he stopped, shaking his head as though to dislodge that particular train of thought. "I need it to be just me. I can lock the door and know there's no one else in the room."

Matt nodded. It was understandable after he'd spent all that time on his own in the house, listening for any sounds from downstairs, paranoid that he'd hear them moving once more.

"Okay, but remember that we're only next door if you need us," Becker said, ushering Bob into his and Matt's room instead.

Becker and Matt got into bed, the door closed behind them, and Becker felt the damp trail on his cheek. He tried to wipe it away before Matt saw but the other man stopped him.

"Becks, you don't have to hide from me. Ever." He pulled Becker into his arms. "You're entitled to a meltdown after the day you've had," he said. "I'm not going to think any less of you for it."

He held onto Becker until the tears stopped, hating that he couldn't do more to help him. Eventually, Becker wiped his eyes, sniffling. He smiled weakly.

"Attractive, huh?" he joked.

Matt kissed him hard, letting him know that he meant it. "Always, to me. Now, try to get some sleep."

-To be continued-


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Days passed into weeks and more people arrived. They were coming in from all over, eager to find a place where they could feel safe. The instructions being transmitted over the broadcast were clear; when they arrived in the city there were certain buildings to go to, ones that were free from the Dead and marked with flags to indicate so. They should go to the roof, where radios had been left on each building so that they could call in. If need be, someone would go out to collect them, or give them directions for a safe route to the ARC.

It took a lot of hard work but eventually they had a perimeter set up around their part of the city. As time went on they hoped to expand it, move outwards, but for the moment it was enough. Removing the Dead from that area was the worst part. It felt too much like execution, Connor said one day. Even if it was the Dead or them, a fight for survival. Still, it had to be done. If they had any chance at all, they had to eliminate the risk of being bitten by one of those creatures and infected.

They sat up in the second floor windows of the ARC, rifles balanced on the window sills and picked off the Dead one by one. Buildings within the safe zone were swept through, eliminating them, before the bodies were removed and incinerated.

Still more people joined them, their numbers growing every day as survivors came in small groups. They had long since outgrown the ARC and had taken over a hotel that had been incorporated into the safe zone, after being cleared and secured. The new arrivals reacted in horror to what the others were doing, clearing the streets of the Dead and some refused to help. In the end, they all came around, though. Unpleasant as it was, they had very little choice. That was the price for safety.

Two months after first broadcasting, a party of thirty-four people arrived at the gates after radioing to say that they were on their way. Lester and Connor were there to greet them as they came through, the gates secured behind them, eagerly awaiting this meeting.

"James, it's good to see you again," Leila said, smiling widely. "And Connor. We meet at last."

Connor hugged her as he would an old friend. They had spoken so often that he felt as though he knew her already, despite the fact that they had never met in person.

"Come on," he said. "Jess is dying to meet you too."

The refugees from Thames House looked around as they walked through the streets toward the ARC.

"I can't believe this," one of the men said. "I know that you told us what you were doing here but I don't think I really thought it possible. It's the first place we've been where we're not constantly expecting to be attacked."

Mark, leading them back to the ARC, indicated with the pistol in his hand. "There's still a long way to go. The streets may be clear but we're by no means finished."

"The buildings are still unsecured," Lester told them. "We have been closing them off until we can go in and remove the Dead. Once they're clear, we retain access but ensure that nothing else can get in from outside the safe zone."

x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Matt wiped the sweat from his face and pulled the piece of cloth back over his nose and mouth. He pulled his gloves back on and took the feet of another body, Becker taking it under the arms as they swung it off the back of the truck and into the concrete chute along with the others. It dropped down into a bunker below their feet where a huge machinery arm would then scoop them up and into the incinerator. Usually a dustbin wagon would bring household waste here, tipping it into the chutes, but not any more. At present, this place was nothing more than a crematorium.

They had acquired two more vehicles for this purpose, a pick-up truck and another flat-bed, and others were currently out with the teams clearing one of the buildings. It was hard to believe the sheer numbers that needed removing from the area, those infected by the virus or attacked by the Dead and subsequently reanimated and then taken out by the clearing teams. It was a horrible job, but it had to be done.

When the last of the Dead were off the truck they climbed back into the cab and drove it outside, glad to be out of there.

"Do you ever think it would have been better if that anomaly had never reopened?" Matt asked as they parked the truck near the ARC. "If we hadn't come back we wouldn't be doing this."

"But the others would," Becker pointed out.

Matt tossed his gloves and overalls into the cab of the truck, ready for next time.

"I guess so," he said with a sigh. "Look, just ignore me; I'm tired, that's all."

"So am I," Becker agreed. "I can think of a million places I'd rather be, but we're here and we're making the best of it."

Matt shook his head. "It's not so much what we're doing as the fact that all of this," he indicated to the gun clipped to his belt, to the now-empty streets, "doesn't bother me as much as it once did. I spend most of my days shooting people, or what were once people, and disposing of them and it just feels like another day at the office. It should bother me more."

"It's just a defence mechanism," Becker told him. "You were in the army, you saw active service - it's the same. You cope there by telling yourself that it's you or them, that they're the enemy. This is no different." He smiled, hooking a finger into Matt's belt and dragging him close enough to kiss. "You still feel, and you still react."

Matt slid his arms around Becker's waist. "Well, I'm definitely reacting right now," he murmured, thrusting his hips against Becker's. "And feeling."

"So you are."

"In fact, I'm feeling the urge to drag you inside and get my hands on that arse of yours," Matt continued. "Or, better still…"

He grabbed Becker's hand and started walking, leaving Becker no choice but to follow.

"Where are we going?" Becker asked, but Matt just smiled.

A short distance from the ARC was a small private park, belonging to one of the office buildings. Walled all around, he could guarantee that there would be no nasty surprises for them. Once they were inside, he closed the high wooden gate once more and backed Becker against it.

"Now, where were we?" he asked, moving in for a kiss.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Lester looked around for Connor, eventually finding him sitting cross-legged on the floor sorting and fastening together a mess of cables that ran into the back of the detector desk. He had been re-wiring things for a couple of days, trying to get the city's surveillance camera feed to run into the anomaly desk. He pointed out it would take away the need to have lookouts posted if they could keep watch from inside the ARC. It was almost done, he said. Just a few more tweaks.

That had been three hours ago.

"Connor, have Becker or Matt returned?" he asked, crouching down beside the younger man. "I was expecting them back some time ago."

Connor glanced up, a screwdriver held between his teeth, and mumbled something. At Lester's eye roll, he removed it, repeating, "They're fine. I saw them a while ago."

"Where?"

Connor grinned. "I got the cameras working. See for yourself."

He got to his feet and flicked a switch on the detector desk controls and the monitor flared to life. The camera it was on had a clear view of the park, and of the two men currently too occupied to realise that fact.

"Oh…" Lester cocked his head to one side thoughtfully as he watched them.

Connor laughed. "Educational, isn't it?"

Lester's cheeks reddened. "We shouldn't be watching this," he said, his gaze never leaving the screen.

"Why not?" Connor teased. "Is it giving you ideas?"

"Yes - I mean, no!"

Connor's laughter grew louder, causing Abby and Jess to look their way curiously. Shutting down the monitor before they saw what was on it, Connor leaned in closer to whisper in Lester's ear.

"Me too. How about we find someplace nice and quiet and we can compare notes?"

Lester shook his head. "Don't you have things to do?"

"Spoil sport," Connor grumbled.

"I'll tell you what," Lester bargained, glancing over to make sure that no one was watching before curling a hand around the nape of Connor's neck, drawing him closer and giving him a kiss. "You finish setting up the cameras, and then you can have a reward."

Connor perked up at that. "Reward? Anything I want?"

"Yes. Within reason," Lester added hastily as Connor grabbed his screwdriver again and crawled back under the desk to finish what he had been doing.

When he re-emerged twenty minutes later, he found Jess and Mark talking to Lester and called them over.

"I'm done!" he announced, giving Jess a quick lesson on how to control them. "Right, got all that? If anything goes wrong," he added, grabbing Lester's hand and setting off in the direction of their sleeping quarters. "Don't call me. I'll fix it tomorrow."

x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x

As it happened, he did get called back, not an hour after leaving. The anomaly detector klaxon began wailing, alarming those who hadn't been informed about what the ARC was originally for.

"Where is it?" Connor asked, running down the stairs and almost tripping on the untied laces of his hastily-donned boots. Behind him, at a rather more sedate pace, Lester tugged his shirt straight as he followed.

Jess was busy at the desk, tapping keys and zooming in the monitors on the location, but she need not have bothered. Lester pointed to one of the CCTV feeds on a different screen.

"I think our problem has just got worse," he said.

The anomaly was right in the middle of the street, just on the border of the safe zone. If anything came through, it would be trapped inside it, along with the people. Becker and Matt came racing in, straight through, and toward the armoury, pausing only long enough to shout to Lester.

"Anomaly outside. Find Mark and Dev."

Jess nodded, scanning the room for them. If they were in the building they would have heard the siren, she knew, and would have come running. Becker and Matt returned with Abby and an armful of EMD's as well as their live ammunition weapons, handing one to Connor and looking around for their backup.

"They aren't here," Jess told them. "They must still be out with one of the teams."

Matt passed an EMD to Lester. "Looks like you've been recruited," he said, following the others out.

There was a crowd gathered nearby, watching the anomaly with the same fearful fascination they would an exotic snake; curious but ready to run at the first sign of danger. When Matt and Lester began ushering them back, away from it, it suddenly clicked in their minds that they seemed just a little too comfortable with this strange occurrence.

"What is that thing?" one man asked, resisting their attempts to move him. He eyed the guns suspiciously. "I think we have a right to know, don't you?"

Matt rolled his eyes. "Whatever, just not now. Right now I need all you rubber-neckers to let us get on with our jobs."

A loud roar sounded from through the anomaly and the crowd suddenly decided that they really weren't _that_ curious, backing away. Some went back inside, to watch from the windows, others leaving altogether.

As the shadow in the anomaly took shape, Connor groaned. Of all the things that could have walked out of the damn anomaly, it had to be raptors. Nasty little buggers, raptors, and fast too. One of the two that came through took off down the street, charging at the remaining people, who fled, their screams only making it chase them more. Matt and Abby set off in pursuit, leaving them to get the other one.

"Connor, close this thing before any more come through," Becker yelled at him, heading down the alley that the second raptor had bolted into.

Unfortunately, it was a dead end, thanks to their blockades and the raptor had nowhere to go. It charged at the same time as Becker fired the EMD and it dropped to the ground mere inches from him.

One down: one to go.

Ignoring the gawking faces pressed to windows, watching him, Becker left Connor and Lester to keep an eye on the unconscious creature and jogged after Matt and Abby. They hadn't gone far; the raptor had doubled back when it realised it was running toward a dead end, unfortunately deciding to take its frustrations out on the people who were chasing it.

Becker got there just in time to see a teenage girl trip and fall in the middle of the road, being trampled by the panicking crowd as the raptor bounded her way. It was eyeing her as though she was lunch, the weak animal in the pack, ready to be picked off. He raised the EMD but he didn't have a clear shot, the other people still in the street getting in the way as they ran in haphazard paths, trying to get out of its way.

"Abby, shoot it!"

She had the weapon raised but there were too many potential casualties running around.

"I can't get a shot! Get out of the bloody way!" she snapped at the people, elbowing through them.

Becker headed for the fire escape on the building next to him as Matt stuffed his EMD into his pocket and ran to the girl. He scooped her up into his arms and ran but not before the raptor managed to rake a clawed foot down his back. He cried out and fell, trying to protect the girl as they hit the pavement.

Up on the gantry, Becker finally saw the crowd finally part enough for to take his shot and fired. The creature landed on the road with a pissed-off roar but he didn't stop to make sure it was down. Abby could do that, he thought as he hurried to check on Matt. He was still laying face down on the ground, the girl now sitting beside him, looking unsure of what to do next.

"Matt?" Matt stirred, flinching as he moved. "I need to have a look and see what damage it's done," he said. "Then we'll get you back to the ARC and get you treated."

The back of his jacket was shredded in three long slashes that went right through the shirt below. The claws had gouged the skin on Matt's back, the blood seeping from the wounds soaking his shirt. As he tried to move the material, Matt swore.

"I'm sorry, love. Do you think you can get up?"

Matt struggled to his feet, with a little help from Becker, biting his lip to stop from reacting to the pain. Becker turned back to Abby.

"I'm taking him back," he said. "Will you be okay handling that thing?"

Abby nodded and he and Matt left, Becker partially holding Matt up. Looking at the raptor on the ground, Abby scanned the crowd.

"You three, come over here." She pointed at three men near to her. "Give me a hand with this." When they didn't move, she glared at them. "Now!"

They managed to get the raptor onto a tarpaulin that someone found for her and together they began to half-carry, half-drag the creature back toward the anomaly. Eventually, another couple of bystanders came to help and they got it back to where Connor and Lester were waiting. Connor had the anomaly locked into a shimmering ball of light and he stood waiting for them. The other raptor had already been dragged to the anomaly, Mark and Dev having arrived in time to deal with it. It was re-opened for long enough to deposit them back through the anomaly and close it again.

That was the easy part. The hard part came next, when the explanations were demanded from those caught in the chaos that the anomaly had caused.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Becker watched as the medic finished patching up the wounds on Matt's back, closing them with butterfly tapes and covering them with dressings.

"I'm fine, Becks," Matt said when he was finally allowed to sit up, the pain medication he'd been given making it easier for him to move. "Stop worrying."

"Not going to happen," Becker told him, helping him to get a shirt on over the bandages.

Matt stood up, not even bothering to fend off Becker's attempt to help him dress.

"Is the girl all right?" he asked. "I think I landed on her when I fell."

Becker smiled. "She's fine; she was waiting outside the door for a while but they wouldn't let her in to see you."

"Yet they let you in?" Matt teased.

Becker smiled. "I had a gun." His expression sobered then. "Please don't do that again. I've lost enough people recently without you getting yourself killed as well."

Matt stopped and reached for Becker's hand. "I'm not going anywhere. You're stuck with me." He thought about Becker's words; he'd said she was waiting for a while. "How long have I been here?"

"Couple of hours," Becker told him. "You passed out just after we got back."

Matt frowned at him. "I don't pass out."

"It was in a most manly and dignified way, of course," Becker added hastily, trying to bite back his grin.

It took him ten minutes of arguing but eventually, Matt was allowed to leave, although only under strict instructions that he wasn't to get the wounds wet or pull the tapes or do anything strenuous. That one earned Becker a pointed glare from the medic as well.

He re-considered leaving when he started walking, as every step caused the lower slashes on his back to pull as the muscles moved. Matt didn't object as Becker steered him toward the staff room; he had no intention of lying down and resting as he had been instructed and sitting in the staff room was the next best thing. When they got there, however, they had to step aside for Lester to go hurrying past them, heading for the lobby with Abby at his side.

"What's going on?"

Lester paused. "It would seem that the locals are rebelling. They appear to be somehow implying that we brought those damn velociraptors here intentionally, in order to ruin their day or something to that effect." He sighed. "Idiots."

Matt shrugged Becker's arm off him. "Go on. I can manage on my own."

"I won't be long." Becker looked into the room and summoned Jess over to help Matt before running after Lester.

In the lobby he found a small group of people gathered, the girl at the front, standing next to an angry-looking man.

"I want to know who the hell you people are," he demanded. "I have a right to know! My little girl almost died out there."

Becker was just about to go down to intervene when he heard a familiar voice.

"From what I heard, if your daughter had got out of the way like she was told to, she wouldn't have been in danger in the first place."

He smiled. Piers always did have a way of getting to the point, usually pissing people off in the process. He'd spent more time being grounded when they were kids than Becker, mostly due to his inability to keep his mouth shut.

The man scowled at Piers. "So you're one of them, are you?"

"No, I don't work here. My brother does, though, and you know what he spent the last two hours doing?" Piers advanced on the man, poking him in the chest with his index finger as he spoke. "He spent the last two hours watching them patch up his boyfriend, the same man who rescued your daughter and you haven't even bothered to ask if he's okay."

The man began to speak but Piers cut him off. "Oh, do shut up. These people spend their days trying to keep you morons safe from creatures like that, regardless of the risk to themselves, and you have the nerve to come here and bitch about it? You should be ashamed of yourselves. If you ask me, they should have let that Velociraptor eat the lot of you." He glanced down at the dog standing next to him, growling softly at the man. "Come on, Bob."

Leaving the crowd in stunned silence and the girl begging her irate father to leave it and go home, Piers turned and stalked up the stairs, Bob the dog trotting along after him. He paused when he saw Becker.

"Oh, bugger… How much of that did you hear?"

Becker just smiled. "Enough to say thank you. Though I think the part about letting the raptor eat them all might have been a bit much."

"I'm not apologising; he was being a prick," Piers said, immediately on the defensive.

"I wasn't asking you to," Becker assured him.

They walked together up toward the staff room, Lester and Abby following as the crowd began to disperse. This wouldn't just go away, Becker knew. Eventually they would have to tell people what was going on, especially if another anomaly opened within the safe zone, but for the moment they could just ignore it.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Three days later, Matt sat at the monitors on the anomaly desk. He had been confined to base, Becker refusing to allow him to go out with the teams even if he wasn't going to do anything.

"You can't even sit comfortably," Becker pointed out. "And it'll hurt like hell if you raise your hands to fire a gun. You're staying here."

So, Matt sat at the monitors doing lookout duty. In reality he was being nosy, having worked out how to zoom the cameras in and had been trying to teach himself to lip read.

"That's not exactly why I spent days setting up the camera feed," Connor commented, looking over his shoulder.

Matt jumped, flinching when the slashes across his back began to smart.

"It's not what it looks like."

Connor laughed. "Oh? Because it looked like you were using the CCTV cameras to ogle Becker's arse when he bent down."

Matt sighed. "I'm bored, okay?"

He flicked through the other cameras, looking for something interesting happening, and then frowned. Switching back to the previous screen, he pointed.

"I thought I saw something."

Connor watched but there was nothing at all, no movement beyond the fence. Eventually, Matt moved on, checking the other cameras. Maybe he had imagined it, days of sitting around the ARC creating excitement where there was none.

Despite that, he kept a close check on the CCTV after that. There was something niggling at him, a worry that wouldn't leave, and it paid off. The Dead were coming closer to the fences than they had been, turning back after realising that they couldn't get through, but still they tried. They had been running out of food now for months, with most of the people now safely inside the boundaries. They had no idea what would happen when the Dead ran out of food completely, but it looked as though they were going to find out sooner rather than later.

"They're going to get more persistent, aren't they?" Piers asked, as they filled him in on their idea of starving the Dead.

Becker nodded. "We're not sure exactly what will happen, but it's going to be bad for a while."

He had already stepped up security, making sure that the perimeter was checked regularly for broken gates or any other way that the Dead could get in. They had already addressed the residents, explaining as best they could without causing a panic, making sure that they were all remaining alert. Those residents who had been present in the meeting had then gone away and told the others. It hadn't been an easy meeting, coming so close to the raptor incident, but at least everyone would now keep watch. What made the situation worse was that no one could give any definite answers; the whole idea was based on a theory that the Dead's bodies would react the same as a living human's if they were starved of nutrients.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x

The safe zone continued to grow at a slow pace; others would arrive, looking for safety, and in return they would assist in spreading the boundaries. They were still working one building at a time, removing the Dead and securing it behind them.

Connor was in regular contact with Catherine and one of the other researchers at the Institute, gradually gathering more information about the virus and its effects in the long term. It was still their hope to wait out the virus, to remain inside the safe zone until the Dead outside began to die, but it all depended on how many people were still outside. If there were no more people for the Dead to bite, then that meant that there would be no more of them created. It also meant that their food supply would be restricted.

"There are always animals," Matt pointed out as they theorised, with Catherine on the speaker so that they could all talk. "Pets, wildlife, even farm animals. A field of cows would feed them for quite a while."

"So why don't we get Dead animals?" Abby asked. "What's different in them that protects them from getting the virus?"

Catherine could be heard talking to someone else in the background and then she was back. "I think we've been going about this all wrong. We've been trying to synthesise a vaccine or a cure from human samples. What we should be doing is looking at animals that have been exposed but not affected." There was another muted conversation, this time the voices fast and excited. "Connor, I have to go. There's something we want to check."

The connection went dead and Connor looked around at the others. There was a new glimmer of hope in their eyes and he felt it too, the possibility that this might be coming to an end. They couldn't tell the people yet; it wouldn't be fair to get their hopes up if the testing revealed nothing useable, but it was still more than they'd had five minutes ago.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Ten and a half months after they'd returned through the anomaly, stepping into that strange yet familiar world, Matt finally heard some news that made him think that this nightmare could soon be over.

"Say that again, Catherine."

"I think we've found something. It's only been tested in lab conditions, but the results are promising," she told them. "We found an antibody that neutralises the virus - it occurs in animals but not humans - but as I said, we've only just begun testing. We need to see how it works on an actual subject, then there's replicating it…"

It didn't matter that this was still being tested, what mattered was that there was potentially a way to stop the virus in its tracks. They had been monitoring the Dead outside the barricades, watching their numbers decrease, but there was still a vast number out there. Some had been created only months before, with people still being caught out by the Dead, and so it would be a long time before they all died away naturally. With a way to kill the virus, and the Dead with it, they could stop this thing once and for all.

As Catherine talked, Matt looked around at the group of people assembled in the Detector room. There were so few of them there now, only a handful of the people he'd come to know at the ARC. They had lost people to the virus like Luke, while some had never made it back here to begin with. He used to think that the anomalies would be the world's downfall, but now he knew better. It wasn't the creatures or the anomalies, but a simple virus that had almost destroyed everything. They had clung on, however, determined to keep hold of this world and it looked as though it was finally going to pay off.

"'You okay?" Becker asked, nudging him gently to get his attention.

Matt nodded. "I was just thinking about the future."

"Which one?" Becker asked. "The one ahead of us, or home?"

Matt shrugged his shoulders. "This one _is_ home now."

Becker tugged on his sleeve and led him up to the roof so that they could talk without disturbing the other's conversation with Catherine. This had become a regular place for them to get away from it all, to have a bit of peace and quiet.

"It seems weird knowing that the world I came from won't happen," Matt told him. "For the first time, it's all new."

"Isn't that a good thing?"

Matt nodded. "Of course, I just don't think it had sunk in until I heard them talking about this all coming to an end. It's strange not knowing for once in my life." He paused, thinking. "What are we going to do when this is over, when everything gets back to normal?"

"I can hardly remember what normal is," Becker said. "It seems ages since we were coming back through that anomaly with Luke and Dev, thinking that the worst was behind us now that we were home. Even before that, dinosaurs and dragons with knights chasing them were an everyday occurrence." He laughed. "I don't think that life has been normal in a long time."

"For me either. From the place I came from, to this," Matt agreed. "However, we're still here and that's what matters. My dad always told me that getting attached to someone would interfere with the mission, make me weaker in the decisions I made, but he was wrong. You and me? We're stronger together."

"Aww, sweet," Becker said, but his teasing stopped moments later when he heard Matt's next words.

"I love you and I don't ever want to be without you. Marry me, Becks."

When Becker didn't respond, Matt felt his heart begin to race, wondering if he'd said the wrong thing. Then he saw the huge smile on Becker's face.

"Yes."

Becker dragged Matt close and kissed him hard on the mouth before scrambling to his feet and holding out a hand to help Matt up.

"Where are we going?" Matt asked.

Becker grinned at him, not letting go of his hand. "To tell my brother. And the team. And anyone else we see." He paused for another kiss before they went back inside. "I love you. I know I don't say it much but you know I do, right?"

"I do."

Matt smiled. Things were definitely looking up.

x.x.x

End.


End file.
